COLUMBUS, Ohio — This year's net farm income is expected to be 25.5% less than that of 2023.

"What we're seeing here with these particular numbers — a multiyear decline in net farm income is twofold. One, some commodities, let's say corn and soybeans, for example, are seeing prices come down, in some cases from record or near record highs," agriculture expert Andy Vance said. "At the same time, expenses continue to go up. Right? We've been talking about that for a few years now. Inflationary pressures, energy costs in particular have been a big one over the years. On the grain side of things, we've seen costs, fertilizer costs. Those continue to increase and equipment costs continue to increase as well, so all of those play into this – this squeeze of profitability that farmers are not able to return the same profit on their investment as they were to three or four years ago."

In a release, Sec. of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack said, "After the three highest consecutive years on record in 2021-2023, the first farm income forecast of 2024 indicates net farm income this year will return to prior levels. During this period of record farm income, U.S. farmers rose to the occasion by producing strong harvests and increasing commodity stocks while the U.S. economy recovered more quickly and more robustly than that of the global economy from COVID-19. As a result, while we have rebuilt the global supply, we are seeing a decreased demand for U.S. commodities, and commodity prices are coming down. At the same time, while some production costs have come down, others, including labor, pesticides, and livestock purchases, have increased. This brings us to the slightly below historic levels for farm income forecasted today."

If you have an idea for the Ag Report, a question for Chuck and Andy or you'd like to send a photo of your farm and the work you do, send an email to charles.ringwalt@charter.com. You can also follow Chuck on Facebook.