The USDA Economic Research Service 2024 Farm Sector Income Forecast shows farm income is down again this year, but not as much as it was last year.

While the report compares different measures of farm income, the bottom line is that, adjusted for inflation, net farm income is forecast to decrease by $9.5 billion (6.3 percent) from 2023 to 2024. Net cash farm income is forecast to decrease by $5.7 billion (3.5 percent). That compares to a 19 percent decline in net farm income last year and a 23.5 percent decrease in net cash income.

Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) on Monday urged Congress to provide emergency economic assistance to agricultural producers facing market losses.

“It’s clear the pain our farm families are living through,” Boozman said in remarks on the Senate floor. “For some producers, this is the second or third consecutive year of negative cash flow. This means many farm families are ending 2024 in the red, unable to pay off this year’s operating loan, unable to get the loan to farm in 2025, and face the reality of being the generation to have lost the family farm due to extreme market conditions beyond their control.”

In reaction to the farm income report on Tuesday, Boozman and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) called on Congress to also take action on a farm bill. “Reauthorizing a five-year farm bill with significant improvements to the safety net is critical to restore certainty to our producers,” they said in a statement.
“America’s farmers and ranchers are in serious trouble, and the outlook remains grim. From 2023 to today, row crop producers alone have lost more than $50 billion, and stand to lose even more next year. Immediate action is required to stabilize the farm economy and prevent a crisis that will only become more costly to address over time.”