Farmer’s income could drop nearly 50% this year

Posted by: Laura Wilson
lwilson@klkntv.com

UNL’s Bureau of Business Research is predicting farmer’s income will be cut nearly in half this year.

The three-year forecast predicts this year’s Nebraska farm income will be about 3-point-five billion dollars, the lowest its been in more than five years.

"It's a pretty significant drop and it's related to a sharp drop that we've seen in crop prices over the last few years,” said UNL Bureau of Business Research Director Eric Thompson.

In June 2013, corn sold for $7.05 per bushel in Nebraska City, according to the Cornhusker Economics newsletter.

This year, it sold for only $3.43 per bushel.

But farmers say they’re not taking as big of a hit as it may seem like, pointing out that the big drop in price comes on the heels of an unusually big spike in price several years ago.

"In 2012, we had a drought.  There was a lot of fields that did not produce anything, so the supply of grain went down and, of course, the price went way up–as high as I'd ever seen it,” explained Martell farmer Rod Hollman.

“It stayed there for a year or two, and now it's back down in what I call more of a normal range," he added.

Hollman says as a farmer, he has bigger concerns than his projected drop in wages.

"I would say this year, weather and the property taxes are the two biggest issues.  Our input costs are still high and now we've added property taxes to that–and that just affects the bottom line."

There is good news for some farmers this year, though.

"Livestock prices remain pretty high.  So, those involved in agriculture in the livestock business have been benefiting from strong prices this year,” said Thompson.

Farm income is anticipated to stabilize at about $4 billion in 2016 and 2017.