Key Takeaways Situation: New Federal Milk Marketing Orders ushered in updates to milk pricing formulas, including increased make allowances and changes to the Class I base
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When Boyd Meyer, a rancher who’s been in the cattle business for 30 years, walked into Denver’s Western Stock Show in 2002, he had no intention…
Read MoreFields to Futures: What Producers Need to Know for 2025/26
Key Takeaways: Weather, Acreage, and Tariff Uncertainty = Price Risk: A hot and dry summer forecast, changing planting data, and the looming expiration of U.S.-China tariff
Read MoreHow Many Beef Cows Does the U.S. Industry Need?
Key Takeaways: The national cow herd does not need to grow back to the size it was at the 2019 peak. A larger-than-now but smaller-than-before national
Read MoreSilver Appetites: An Aging Population and Food Demand
In this Issue: Population aging began in the 1970s and accelerated in the 2010s. Population aging, even sooner than population decline, will change demand for agricultural
Read MoreVideo: Next Steps for Nuts in “The Big Shrink”
Key Takeaways: Over the past three decades, U.S. nut growers have been widely successful due to exceptional growth in export markets. More than 70% of U.S.
Read MoreNews Worth Knowing – November 15, 2024
Terrain analysts dissect news topics important to agriculture and weigh their significance for the sectors relevant to our Farm Credit customers. In this issue, our analysts
Read MoreCalifornia’s Regulations Play a Role in Agriculture’s Export Gap
Key points: Representing more than 20% of U.S. agricultural exports, California stands to benefit from efforts to narrow the trade gap. The rising cost of regulations
Read MoreThe Changing Funding Structure of Rural America
Key points: Bank deposits have grown at lower levels in areas with declining populations. In partnership with traditional agricultural lenders, alternative capital pools and consolidated lending
Read MoreAg Cycles in Opposite Ends of the Spectrum
Key points: Cattle producers, on the upswing in profitability, have taken a conservative approach, so far, to herd expansion and other investment in their operations. Crop
Read MoreWhen in Doubt, Zoom Out
In This Issue: High regulatory costs limit California farmers’ ability to expand specialty crop production. Financial stress continues to build for Midwestern field crop and hog
Read MoreMay 2025 WASDE Sets the Stage for Markets
Current Conditions & Pre-Report Expectations Planting season across the United States remains ahead of schedule for both corn and soybeans. As of May 11, 2025, U.S.
Read MoreTailwinds Needed: An Early Look At 2026 Farm Income
Temporary Sense of Relief for Crop Farmers It’s no secret that row crop producers have faced stiff economic headwinds in recent years. After rising sharply in
Read MoreInspired by Ancient Vines – Cline Family Cellars
Fred Cline is a winemaker who hails from a family of innovative thinkers. When he and his wife, Nancy, started Cline Family Cellars in 1982, they…
Read MoreHow Will Agriculture Navigate the Baby Bust?
Situation Since 2017, the United Nations has revised its global fertility and population projections downward. Initially, in 2017, the organization projected that the global population would
Read MoreAmerican AgCredit releases rural mental health documentary
Santa Rosa, C.A. (May 1, 2025) – In support of May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, agriculture lender American AgCredit, a member of the Farm Credit System,…
Read MoreDemographics Drive an Export Evolution
Situation: The U.S. dairy export industry is experiencing a shift in product demands by key export destinations, with aging populations, slowing population growth and maturing economies.
Read MoreEconomic Sustainability of Dairy Digesters
Situation: Digester construction has boomed thanks to lucrative credits and tax incentives for converting biomethane into renewable natural gas. Now some of those tax incentives are
Read MoreThe Buzz on 2025 Almond Bloom
Situation Opinions on bloom have been varied, with some noting mostly dry conditions while others are focusing on the sporadic rain and hail the Central Valley
Read MoreCattle Market Continues to Hold Firm
After a quarter with all-time record-high prices for all weight classes of cattle and the annual Cattle Inventory report confirming that liquidation continued in all classes
Read MoreWill the Bull Send the Corn Bear Back Into Hibernation?
Farmers should stay patient and disciplined. Patient for old crop: I expect continued price rallies for old-crop corn driven by export sales strength and tight global
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