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US farmers falling down the global totem pole

Farm income, yields and production expansion are better in some other countries and Dan Basse, President of global ag market analysis firm Ag Resource Company, tells Brownfield that’s a sad story for American farmers.

“The average farmer down in Brazil is making somewhere around 24%. So think about that, they are paying for a farm in four or five years and so they are doing cartwheels and quite happy about their lot and life. Here in the United States the farm outlook just isn’t as bright. In fact, USDA cut the net income forecast for 2020 by 9% from last year.”

He says if there is good growing weather this year the outlook for market prices is sliding down.

“Markets are markets, weather is weather, politics is politics and so as we look at the markets all we can do as farmers is look forward. I would tell every farmer that if you look at December of 2020 corn, if we make it back to $4 or $4.10 that is a big sales opportunity. If that’s the worst sale you make all year, that is a good deal.”

Basse says the US needs another demand driver to kick the markets into gear.

Brownfield interviewed Basse at the Illinois Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers annual meeting in Peoria.