In the recent post, US Farmer Age is Inversely Related to Value of Production, average farm producer age in 2022 was 55 years of age on farms that had over $1,000,000 in annual farm production. All 3.5 million farm producers … Continue reading →
Since the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released in February 2024, there has been extensive discussion about the aging of farmers and producers. It is true. With each successive Census – every 5 years – the average age of farmers … Continue reading →
The USDA provides a treasury of farm data in many different formats. With decades of farm data experience, I hoped I could bring new insights into the ‘aging farmer’ discussion. What I learned instead is that hemp producers don’t fit … Continue reading →
This chart is from the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA Agricultural Projections to 2034, released on 2/18/25. The 2025 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum occurred the following week, 2/27-28/25. This series of events mark the end of the last US … Continue reading →
One fun announcement from last week’s, USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum was the release of a finer resolution of field boundaries in the continental United States. The United States with the exception of Hawaii is available at a 10-meter resolution. This … Continue reading →
Last Thursday and Friday, (2/27 & 2/28/2025), the USDA held their annual February, Agricultural Outlook Forum in DC. This marks the start of another growing season. The February date allows for last year’s crop year data to be tabulated and … Continue reading →
On the eve of USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum, Scott Irwin posted his analysis, Trends in the Operational Efficiency of the U.S. Ethanol Industry: 2024 Update. It looks at four simultaneous outputs: ethanol, DDGS, corn oil, and CO2, from dry-mill ethanol … Continue reading →
Fifteen years ago, I mentioned to my brilliant director at University of California, Davis, California Biomass Collaborative, that I thought we were heading to a future where we could produce milk and meat without animals, through cellular regeneration. We had … Continue reading →
Raised by depression-era parents, I have lived through the 1980s farm crisis, and spent 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal using my first degree (BS agronomy) to help Nepali farmers grow more food. In the 80s and … Continue reading →
Over the last few decades, financing the family farm has shifted. Farm policies and farm management begin with the idea of a farm as the central business unit of a farm household. This is an excellent place to begin. But … Continue reading →
