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Farm Labor Markets in the United States and Mexico Pose Challenges for U.S. Agriculture
EIB-201, November 28, 2018The U.S. farm labor market shows many signs of tightening, including a shrinking supply of farm labor from rural Mexico—the source of most foreign-born farmworkers in the United States. Immigration trends suggest that rural Mexico is not likely to generate a steady supply of farmworkers for U.S. agriculture over the long term.
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Selected Charts from Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials, October 2018
AP-080, October 30, 2018This collection of charts and maps presents examples of key statistics on the farm sector, food spending and prices, food security, rural communities, agricultural production and trade, the interaction of agriculture and natural resources, and more found in ERS's regularly updated web product, Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials.
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Vegetables and Pulses Outlook: October 2018
VGS-361, October 26, 2018Vegetable supply steady despite unstable weather and widening trade gap.
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Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Only 0.11 Percent of Farm Estates Would Have Owed Estate Taxes in 2016
Amber Waves, September 04, 2018An ERS study estimated farm-level costs to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act's Produce Rule by commodity, State, and farm size. Costs ranged from as little as 0.3 percent of annual produce sales for the largest farms and 6.8 percent for the smallest.
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Estimated Costs for Fruit and Vegetable Producers To Comply With the Food Safety Modernization Act's Produce Rule
EIB-195, August 08, 2018Implementation of the Produce Rule in 2018 will raise costs for farms supplying most fresh produce sold in the U.S. Costs are estimated to range from 0.3 percent of annual sales for the largest farms to 6.8 percent for the smallest.
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Economic Returns to Farming for U.S. Farm Households
ERR-254, August 01, 2018Slightly more than half of U.S. farm households report losses from their farm businesses each year. But net income measures do not capture the full contribution farming makes to the financial well-being of farm families. When tax-loss benefits and asset appreciation are considered, the share of households with positive annual farm returns rises from 43 to 70 percent.
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Farm Operators Owned $19.1 Billion in Oil and Gas Rights, Which Generated $3.8 Billion in Payments in 2014
Amber Waves, July 02, 2018From 2005 to 2014, high energy prices and innovation in extraction methods enabled U.S. production of oil and gas to grow by 69 percent—with almost 67 percent of overall production in 2014 occurring on farmland. That year, farm operators owned $19.1 billion in oil and gas rights that generated $3.8 billion in payments through leases with energy firms.
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Current Indicators of Farm Sector Financial Health
Amber Waves, July 02, 2018Following a steep decline in agricultural commodity prices, the past several years have seen a weaker market for farmland and an uptick in interest rates. At the same time, farm sector income has declined and farm interest expenses have increased. How vulnerable might the farm sector be to a further decline in commodity prices or a rise in interest rates?
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Ownership of Oil and Gas Rights: Implications for U.S. Farm Income and Wealth
EIB-193, June 26, 2018Because of the shale revolution, U.S. annual oil and gas production grew by 69 percent in 2005-14, with almost 67 percent of production in 2014 occurring on farmland.
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Agricultural Research in High-Income Countries Faces New Challenges as Public Funding Stalls
Amber Waves, May 29, 2018Agricultural Research in High-Income Countries Faces New Challenges as Public Funding Stalls
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Impacts of the Value-Added Producer Grant Program on Business Outcomes
Amber Waves, May 07, 2018Impacts of the Value-Added Producer Grant Program on Business Outcomes
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USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant Program and Its Effect on Business Survival and Growth
ERR-248, May 07, 2018The probability of business survival for Value-Added Producer Grant recipients 2 years after the grant is about 89% higher than comparable nonrecipients; a $100,000 increase in the size of the grant increases survival chances by 47%.
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Vegetables and Pulses Outlook: April 2018
VGS-360, April 27, 2018Falling Exports More Than Offset Production Declines to Raise Per Capita Availability.
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More Microloans Issued in Regions With Higher Concentrations of Small Farms and Beginning Farmers, Women, and Minorities
Amber Waves, April 02, 2018USDA's Direct Operating Microloans are designed to be more convenient and accessible than traditional Direct Operating Loans (DOLs) for groups such as beginning farmers, veterans, women, and minorities.
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Pollination Service Fees
Amber Waves, March 27, 2018While still a small share of food production costs, pollination service fees are now the largest source of beekeeper revenue.
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Examining Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture
Amber Waves, March 14, 2018Agricultural production has shifted to larger farms over the last three decades. Technology has been the primary driver of this shift, which has been large and widespread across crop and livestock commodities. Despite the shift to larger operations, family businesses still dominate U.S. agriculture: consolidation has shifted acreage and production to larger family farms.
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Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture
EIB-189, March 14, 2018Consolidation has been widespread, persistent, and pronounced in crop production, and dramatic in some livestock sectors. Little consolidation has occurred in pasture/grazing land, and in the cow-calf sector.
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Agricultural Productivity Growth in the United States: 1948-2015
Amber Waves, March 05, 2018Technological developments in agriculture have driven long-term growth in U.S. agricultural productivity. Innovations in animal and crop genetics, chemicals, equipment, and farm organization have enabled continuing output growth while using much less labor and farmland. As a result, total agricultural output nearly tripled between 1948 and 2015—even as the amount of labor and land used declined.
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Older Operators Often Run Small Family Farms, Particularly Retirement and Low-Sales Farms
Amber Waves, March 05, 2018A notable characteristic of principal farm operators, the person most responsible for running the farm, is their relatively advanced age. In 2016, 36 percent of principal farm operators were at least 65 years old, compared with only 14 percent of self-employed workers in nonagricultural businesses. Older operators ran 37 percent of all small family farms.
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Changing Farmland Values Affect Renters and Landowners Differently
Amber Waves, February 21, 2018Farm real estate (including land and the structures on the land) accounts for over 80 percent of farm sector assets. Farmland values have appreciated substantially since 2000, more than doubling from $1,483 per acre in 2000 to $3,060 per acre in 2015. Cropland appreciated faster than pastureland, while farmland in the Midwest appreciated faster than other areas of the country.