Farm income for 2015 dropped an estimated 40 percent, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, the largest decline in farm income since 1983.
The state of Alabama, however, was not the hardest hit, according to Deacue Fields of Auburn University.
“That 38-40 percent blanket number is for the entire U.S.,” Fields, chair of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, said. “I don’t think our region will be impacted as much as other regions, specifically because certain commodities here weren’t hit as hard as other regions.”
The price for hogs, rice, wheat and oats saw a significant drop around the country, but the price drop in cotton hurt Alabama farmers most.
“I feel for the younger guys during these times,” cotton and peanut farmer Jimmy Miller said. “If you get overextended in a time like this with low prices it’s hard to recover from. There’s no room for any profit, but thank the good Lord we made good yields with prices like this.”
Miller felt the price drop for both his peanut crop and cotton crop, but he had a good yield this year.
Fields said added input costs lowered slightly and a stronger U.S. dollar hurt agriculture exports.
“When the housing crisis hit, the greenhouse and nursery industry became much more efficient," he said. "Now, the fruit and vegetable and greenhouse and nursery industries are looking at a 6 percent increase. There was no sector in farming in 2013 and 2014 that was doing bad. If you could produce it, you got a good price — that’s not normal. Now, we’re going back to normal.”
More Stories
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces one Vacancy on the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Support Ag Literacy Through the AFB Foundation for Agriculture’s Online Silent Auction
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Farm Bureau: Members Accept Leadership Roles on National Committees
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Office of the Farm to Fork Invites Application for 2021 Farm to School Grants
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Awards Funding to Support Agricultural Education and Leadership Opportunities as part of the Calag Plate Program
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Welcomes Nomination of Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces Vacancies on Feed Inspection Advisory Board Technical Advisory Subcomittee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Stands-Up for Farmers in Predatory Shakedown
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CFDA Issues Stop Use Notice and Statewide Quarantine on Organic Fertilizer AGRO Gold WS
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Registration Open for American Farm Bureau Virtual Convention, Featuring Mike Rowe, Rorke Denver and Beth Ford