NEWS

The agronomy and farm supply sector will be stressed through 2019, and profitability for ag retailers could face a multipronged threat. Poor weather last fall and so far this spring has combined with stressed farm financials to pressure ag retailer margins and impact farmer decisions that could reduce sales volumes, according to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.

Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs

• Producers may make a new election to obtain either ARC or PLC for the 2019 crop year, which also will apply for the 2020 crop year.

It’s the big question, right? Which will make my farm more profitable – getting bigger or trimming it down?

Ag economists Gregg Ibendahl and Terry Griffin from Kansas State University examined data from the Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA), which has been helping farmers since the 1930s and has computerized farm records back to the early 1970s, to answer this question.

In Mississippi, a coordinated research and demonstration/extension effort has substantially increased alfalfa acreage since 2014.

Although the calendar says spring, the winter of 2018-19 still has some story to tell, affecting both domestic and export forage markets.