Belt Tightening

Belt Tightening

Belt Tightening. I'm Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

As a farmer, will you need to tighten your belt this year when it comes to your acreage? With crop prices a decrease in acreage may well be something producers look to. Some economist are seeing at least a 1% decline in total acreage planted this year or about 245-million acres which would be the lowest since 2011. There is also a considerable amount of carry-over from last year which would give us an ample grain supply and in turn that could drive prices even lower. 4% for corn and to a whopping 15% decline for wheat. In addition the 2015 projected corn crop is expected to be about 4% smaller than last year. You put all that together with other possibilities like lower export values and you could see a bit of hurt when it comes to farm incomes. USDA Economist, Kevin Patrick gives us the news.

PATRICK: For net farm income we have a forecast of a decrease of about 32% down to $73.6 billion dollars and for net cash income we have a forecast down to about 21% from 2014.

We may even see cash receipts fall for livestock producers this year by almost 5% this year. Patrick says there is a bit of good news though.

PATRICK: There's going to be a little bit lower fuel prices, down about 26% as well as lower feed costs for livestock producers.

It will be good to bear in mind all these things as you go through your season and keep a tight reign on your operation just in case the year shapes up as USDA thinks it might.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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