Agricultural Economics Insights (AEI) provided economic analysis in American Agriculture mainly for the corn, soybeans, and wheat industries. They examine land values and economic trends in agriculture to help producers understand what is going on with farming. At the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention, Farm Director KC Sheperd talked with AEI’s Co-Founder and Partner Brent Gloy about current trends.
“This has been a tough year financially for a lot of people,” Gloy admitted. “Livestock has been pretty good, and that has kind of balanced out at the sector level making it not just a disaster, but row crops and grains are tough.”
He has observed situations that will make obtaining good cash flow difficult for farmers, and high interest rates will only compound the problem.
Gloy believes that it is still too early to tell if the incoming Trump administration will make things better, but said there are a few things that he could tell. “It does appear that the economic participants are looking forward to getting back to business with less regulations,” Gloy shared. “In the ag space, it comes with a little bit of overhang of added tariffs. If we just look at the tariffs that we place on things, it might not be that bad for agriculture. The problem will be the retaliatory tariffs.”
He recalled that the trade war with China in 2018 – 2019 made things difficult.
Another thing that people want to know is whether or not emergency aid will be provided for the farm sector. “I think the reality is that, in the row crop and grain space, it would sure be welcomed because things have been pretty tough,” Gloy stated. “I would expect that we will get something at some point, but I don’t know how much.”
He related how nearly all of the disaster relief that the farm sector has received for the past five years is financed by the government’s emergency fund, and he hopes that will be addressed in the new farm bill when it eventually reaches completion.
More information about Agricultural Economics Insights can be found at aei.ag/overview.
