Featuring

2009 Farm Income Forecast

Farm Sector Income is Forecast to Decline in 2009

Most crop prices are expected to be substantially lower in 2008/09. Even with larger quantities of most grains and oilseeds available to market, lower prices will pull down receipts and production value from 2008's record level. A substantial reduction in milk prices will signal the same outcome for livestock commodities. Despite increases for red meat and poultry receipts, overall livestock receipts are projected down by nearly $11 billion in 2009.

On the input side, prices are also projected to be less than in 2008, particularly for most manufactured inputs, feed, and services such as repairs or transportation. Overall, the reduction in gross income will be larger than the reduction in costs, leaving all measures of income and output below the record levels established in the past 2 years.

Gross farm income and production expenses, 1990-2009f d

Get the forecast for farm sector income.

Farm Operator Household Income in Perspective

Average farm operator household income is forecast to be $85,140 in 2009, down from both the 2007 estimate and the 2008 preliminary estimate. In contrast, average farm operator household income was an estimated $86,223 in 2007, up 6.1 percent from 2006. Farm household income is highly variable through the years, primarily due to the volatility of farm income. The average farm income for farm households has been declining since 2005 and, in 2008 and 2009, off-farm income is forecast to be relatively flat. Nonetheless, for every year since 1996, average income of farm households has exceeded average U.S. household income, and that is expected for 2008 and 2009, as well. In 2007, the latest year for which there is an estimate of U.S. household income, average farm household income was 27.5 percent higher than U.S. average household income.

Get the forecast for farm household income.