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FAPRI-MU ’19 Outlook sees farm finances pressured

The 2019 U.S. Baseline Outlook for U.S. agriculture projects continued financial stress. Pat Westhoff is director of FAPRI, the Food & Agricultural Policy Researcher Institute, with the University of Missouri, “We are showing a little bit higher farm income in 2019 than 2018. But even as we look forward, beyond 2019, we don’t see farm income recovering to the kind of levels we saw in the peak years of 2010 to 2013.”

The outlook is based on current ag policy and weather, “There’s been a constant reminder just the past few weeks if we were to have a continuation of springtime flooding that could affect our ability to get crops in the ground this spring. Likewise, on the trade front, if we were to have a trade agreement with China and other countries, we could maybe have a more positive picture to tell.”

Westhoff and his team are presenting their report to House and Senate staffers in D.C.