U.S. farmers have reason to cheer: this year, farmers stand to push U.S. farm incomes and agricultural land prices to record highs. The news comes on the heels of reports that commodities – including food supplies like grains and livestock – reached their highest levels in years.
Bloomberg reports that agriculture rallied to its highest levels in almost 40 years as cotton, wheat and corn all reached historically high trading prices. Farm income stands to rise drastically from past years, as do cropland values. Analysts forecast that sales of John Deere tractors and used tractors as well will mirror this uptick and rise.
Neil Harl, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, predicts that U.S. farm income will surpass the $87.3 billion high it reached back in 2004, before the recession abruptly halted farm growth. Michael Swanson, a senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co., told Bloomberg that the U.S. is not "going to rebuild inventories in one year," estimating that it will "take several years" because farmers' supplies are "already running flat out, and it will take time for supply to catch up with rising demand."
Analysts anticipate demand for farmed goods to continue to rise as emerging economies demand more U.S.-grown food - news that farmers warmly welcome.
U.S. farming income to rise dramatically
U.S. farming incomes are expected to rise this year to their highest levels since 2004.