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Farm economy strong, uncertainty looms

An ag economist says the farm economy is healthy, but there’s plenty of uncertainty heading into 2023.

Jay Rempe is with the Nebraska Farm Bureau. “Exports markets have hung in there very well. We rely very heavily on export markets particularly for our corn and soybeans and particularly beef.  Those are supporting prices, and we’re seeing domestic demand be very resilient.”

But, he tells Brownfield, inflation, interest rates and skyrocketing input costs could limit profitability  for next year’s crop. “Commodity prices and livestock prices are at levels that farmers can still pay for these input costs. The fear is, moving forward, will those export markets hang in there? Will demand hang in there? If not, we might see prices pull back and have some financial difficulties.”

Rempe says weather is also a concern.