Overview
The ERS farm income
and costs program measures, forecasts, and explains indicators of economic performance
for the U.S. farm sector and major crop and livestock farm groups. The program's
analyses and data are used by USDA and other clients in both the public and private
sector to form a perspective about the financial health of the U.S. agricultural
economy. Distributional analyses identify subsectors and business types that are
performing well relative to past trends and to other groups and types of farms.
Identification of these businesses enables analysts to examine more closely factors
contributing to differing levels of financial performance, such as assessment
of debt repayment difficulties for specific farm types, industry subsectors, and
regions of the country. More overview...
Features
2008
Net Farm Income Is Forecast To Be $95.7 Billion—In
2008, net farm income is forecast to be $95.7 billion, 10 percent above the $86.8 billion farmers earned in 2007 and 57 percent above its 10-year average of $61.1 billion.
Whole-Farm Approaches to a Safety Net—In recent U.S. farm policy debates, several "whole-farm revenue" programs have been proposed as a new form of safety net that would be available to all U.S. farms. A whole-farm program is based on revenues from all farming activities added together and is not linked to the production of particular commodities. This report looks at the risk management potential for such programs and the obstacles to implementing such a whole-farm revenue approach to a farm safety net.
 Structure
and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report, 2007 Edition.
This report presents comprehensive information on family
and nonfamily farms and important trends in farming,
operator household income, farm performance, and contracting.
Most farms are family farms, and small family farms
account for most farms but produce a modest share of
farm output. A companion
brochure summarizes the report's findings. See also the related
Amber Waves feature on The Importance of Farm Program Payments to Farm Households
Growing Farm
Size and the Distribution of Commodity Program Payments—Structural
changes within the farm sector can alter how benefits from
government commodity programs are distributed,
even
without changes in government policy. For instance, agricultural production
is shifting toward larger farms. Hence, given that commodity program payments
are proportional to production of certain commodities, these program payments
are shifting to the largest farms.
A Consideration of the Devolution of Federal
Agricultural Policy—Diverse needs and
preferences across the United States provide justification for the devolution,
or decentralization,
of many Federal Government programs to the State or local level. The move
toward devolution, however, has not been evidenced in U.S. agricultural
policy, despite significant differences across States in such areas as
commodity production, production
costs, income distribution, and opportunities for off-farm work. This report
considers the implications of devolving $22 billion in USDA 2003 budget outlays,
mostly
for domestic commodity and natural resource programs and rural development
and housing programs. See also the Amber
Waves summary article.
Recommended Readings
Agricultural
Income and Finance Outlook—This annual periodical provides historical
estimates and forecasts of financial information that gauge the financial
health of the Nation's farmers and ranchers. Financial information
is provided for the whole farm sector (including contractors and landlords),
for all farms, for farm businesses with a principal operator whose major
occupation is farming, and for the households of principal farm operators. Common
topics include trends in income, value added, receipts, government payments,
expenses, debt, assets, and financial performance. Because of the great
diversity across the farm sector many indicators are presented by size of
farm and other relevant classification schemes.
Characteristics
and Production Cost—This series of reports examines how production costs
vary among producers of different commodities, including production practices,
input use levels (i.e., the technology set), and farm operator/structural characteristics.
The reports also illustrate the degree to which costs vary for producers of
different commodities and indicate possible reasons for the variation. Characteristics
and production costs are examined for low- and high-cost producers of each commodity,
and producers of varying size, region, and typology classification.
See
all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Farm Income provides farm
income forecasts, updated regularly, and farm income estimates, released once
a year. Forecasts are developed using an economic accounting model that generates
forecasts of value-added and farm income, plus component accounts of cash receipts
and production expenditures, for the national farm sector. Estimates are derived
from survey data gathered by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service and
other national institutions over the course of the year.
Farm
Balance Sheet accounts include assets, debt, and equity, where equity equals
assets minus debt, and are used to assess wealth in the farm sector. Both operators'
and landlords' shares of the assets and debt for the farming operation are included.
The financial ratios presented provide useful indicators of the farm sector's
financial performance.
Commodity Costs
and Returns have been estimated for major field crop and livestock enterprises
each year since 1975. Cost and return estimates are reported for the United States
and major production regions for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, grain sorghum,
rice, peanuts, oats, barley, sugar beets, tobacco, milk, hogs, and cow-calf. These
cost and return accounts are "historical" accounts based on the actual
costs incurred by producers during each year.  Farm
Business and Household Survey Data: Customized Data Summaries from ARMS—Use
this new dynamic web-based data delivery tool to learn about agriculture online:
farming practices, commodity production costs and returns, the economics of the
farm business, the structure of American farming, and the characteristics of the
American farm household. Get tailored reporting on agricultural production technology,
farm business viability, and the structure of U.S. agriculture from the very latest
information gleaned from ARMS-including, for the first time, data for 15 selected
States as well as the nation as a whole. This new tool provides one-stop shopping,
centralizing access to all ARMS data, including that previously provided in the
Farm Financial Management and the Crop Production Practices data products.
Historic Data on Farm Operator Household
Income—Operator household income data prior to 1996, including a time
series back to 1960.
See all recommended data...
Related Briefing Rooms
Farm Risk Management
Farm Structure
Farm and Commodity Policy
Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)
Farm
Household Economics and Well-being
Related Links
Farm Service Agency
National
Agricultural Statistics Service
Glossary
Check the glossary
for explanations of the economic concepts used throughout farm income and costs.
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