Tuesday, February 10, 2015

"USDA Projects Farm Income to Drop 32% in 2015" (AGCO; DE; CAT)

From 24/7 Wall Street:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an updated summary of its Farm Income and Wealth Statistics on Tuesday, and U.S. farmers appear to be in for a tough year. Net income from farming in 2015 is forecast to drop 31.8% year-over-year in 2015, to a nationwide total of $73.6 billion. In 2014 U.S. farmers posted net income of $108 billion, following the boom year of 2013 when net income totaled $129 billion.

Direct government payments to farmers will rise 15% from $10.8 billion a year ago to an estimated $12.4 billion in 2015. Crop revenue is forecast to fall 7.9% to $182.6 billion, and revenues from livestock are expected to drop 4.9% to $199 billion. Total gross income is expected to be down 6.7% year-over-year and expenses are set to increase by 0.7%....MORE