U.S. Farm economy

More bees are needed to help pollinate almond trees in California, the USDA reports that farm outputs have tripled over the past 70 years while labor and land use have fallen, ranch-trained horses remain valuable assets on larger ranches, and tire manufacturer Goodyear begins using soybean oil in some new tires.

Three years of La Niña-driven weather in the southwest could now be changing, the pitfalls of starting your own backyard chicken flock, a new USDA report predicts that net cash farm income will decrease by over 20% in 2023 from last year, and farmers in the midwest are keeping a watchful eye on rain and snowpack in the upper Mississippi and Ohio River drainages.

A look at what farmers may expect for their businesses in the coming year, the John Deere Corporation agrees to terms that would help farmers and independent repair shops to work on newer John Deere equipment, recent snow has bolstered the snowpack in western Colorado but much more is needed.

A new driver-optional electric tractor company has started production, a report from the USDA shows that use of conservation tillage significantly reduces farm fuel consumption, Argentine farmers and stockmen are also suffering from La Niña weather, and foreign ownership of U.S. farmland continues to be a concern.

The USDA Economic Research Service reports that one fifth of U.S. agricultural production was exported during the last fiscal year, about one million loans made for the 2020 Paycheck Protection Program appear to be fraudulent, how the Netherlands became the second largest exporter of agricultural products behind the U.S., and low water levels in Colorado reservoirs continue to be a problem.

Tips on acquiring and keeping your real Christmas tree fresh this year, a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey for farmers, ranchers, and forest managers, and U.S. farm income and ag-related business both increase in 2022.

Inflation Reduction Act aims at agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop and livestock production, U.S. farm incomes and exports are expected lower than 2021, and a study shows interesting findings about the effects on overall health of people who eat grapes.

A survey of bank CEOs in rural areas indicates that rural economies are slowing down, the EPA continues to wrestle with problems related to the Roundup herbicide, and a residential developer in Hawaii is selling expensive land plots that can only be used for agricultural purposes.

The Senate Agriculture Committee passed two bills on Wednesday dealing with the regulation of the cattle industry, an activist organization specializing in research about agricultural subsides reports that the government paid a record $41.6 billion in a variety of subsidies to farmers in 2020, double the amount they received in 2018, and reintroduction of wolves in Colorado remains a controversial topic with livestock producers.

Cold, wet conditions delay corn and soybean planting in the Midwest, drought conditions intensify in the Four Corners, the USDA is projecting that food prices will rise up to 6% this year, satellites detect methane emissions from cows, the EPA issues an emergency waiver that allows summertime sales of gasoline blends with 15 percent ethanol, and the Biden administration proposes a $500 million program to encourage farmers to boost production of wheat, soybeans, rice, and other commodities.