10-5 NWR Clinton Nixes TPP

This is your Northwest report for Wednesday, October 5th, I'm David Sparks and after taking serious criticism from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over her husband's sanctioning of the NAFTA agreement, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gave a recent speech focusing on jobs and the economy but also used the occasion to emphatically reiterate her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership. "It sets up a dispute resolution system that favors large corporations over everyone else. It is one of the reasons I'm against it. I have warned about this for years, I have written about it and I oppose TPP now, I will oppose it after the election, I will oppose it as president because it is one-sided and unfair to American workers."

Net farm income is likely to be flat next year despite an increase in government payments but should improve somewhat in the following two years, according to a new analysis.  The report projects that net farm income will fall by more than $10 billion this year to $69.6 billion despite falling production costs and will rise only slightly to $70.3 billion in 2017. 

Farm earnings are expected to rise to $73.7 billion in 2018 and $74 billion in 2019 "because of a modest recovery in crop prices and cash receipts," the report says. FAPRI projects that farmers will receive $13.4 billion in government payments this year, up from $10.8 billion in 2015. The economists see even higher payments in 2017 at $14.4 billion before they drop to a projected $9.9 billion the following year. 

Much of the increase this year and in 2017 is due to payments under the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, which is tied to a moving average of average crop revenue. Payments under the program are expected to drop sharply because of the prolonged slump in prices for corn and other commodities.