Excerpts: Current financial forecasts indicate U.S. net cash farm income could reach $60.8 billion this year, eclipsing 1993’s previous record. Crop prices have recovered somewhat from last year and the livestock sector is particularly strong. Sector wealth continues to increase. New land-value data show farm asset values rising faster than farm debt, resulting in 2001 farm equity up almost $31 billion from last year. For commodities, low crop prices have not been enough to offset higher input costs so returns to crops are still down. For livestock, higher market prices are offsetting lower feed prices resulting in improvement in the bottom lines of livestock producers.
