The recent period of relatively high inflation and concerns about its impacts on production costs for farmers have occupied center stage in discussions about policy priorities. That discussion, however, has been narrow and one-dimensional, largely limited to increasing the reference prices in farm payment programs. Among other things, this narrowed perspective ignores the impact that inflation has on conservation assistance to farmers, as well as the consequences for farmers who adopt conservation practices.

Providing more housing, and housing options, is an important element for slowing the outmigration that exacerbates the workforce challenges facing Midwestern communities. Local communities might explore programs to address derelict or distressed properties. Rural communities might also consider efforts to promote more diverse types of residential housing that sometimes face opposition from existing residents and homeowners. Communities must work collaboratively on multiple strategies to effectively address these issues.

The House Proposal for the Commodity Title would significantly increase commodity title spending. Farmers with base acres of the Southern crops (peanuts, rice, and cotton) would have much higher increases in payments than farmers with base acres of those program crops grown in most of the country. The House Proposal would increase payments more for southern and Delta states than for other regions.

Introduction Avian influenza, traditionally known in its highly pathogenic forms among bird populations, has recently made alarming advances into new territories—including dairy cows. This zoonotic virus poses a threat to…

As we analyze the decisions that have already been made for 2024, we can use how the farm business performed in 2023 to help project 2024 outcomes. The Farm Financial Standards Council has published guidelines for measuring the financial efficiency of the farm business. There are four operating ratios — operating expense, depreciation expense, interest expense and net farm income from operations — they suggest to measure the relationship of expense and income categories to gross revenue.

Increasing reference prices has important implications on the topline spending projections by CBO. Buried beneath these projections are implications for farmers. Critical to this is an oddity unique to the farm payment programs (Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC)): base acres. The payments from these programs are decoupled from what a farmer plants and, thus, from the risks of producing the crop, as well as its costs.