U.S. Wine Sales Slow and Net Cash Farm Income Down
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**U.S. and foreign winemakers are struggling to sell their product, and leaders are increasingly focused on anti-alcohol messaging.
Shanken, a news outlet for wine, beer and spirits data, reports 2023 was the third consecutive year of negative volume growth for U.S. wine sales.
Some wine insiders have traced the origin of negative health messaging to a 2018 study published by The Lancet, which found “no safe level” of alcohol consumption.
**USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts U.S. net cash farm income will decrease by $42.2 billion, or 25.8%, to $121.7 billion in 2024.
This is after a 2023 decreased by a forecast of $50.2 billion.
Net cash farm income is defined as gross cash income minus cash expenses.
Net farm income is forecast to decrease by $43.1 billion to $116.1 billion from 2023 to 2024.
**McDonald’s says it has fulfilled its 2015 pledge to switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.
The Humane Society of the U.S. reports McDonald’s claims to have met its goal two years ahead of schedule, stating they met the mark at the end of 2023.
McDonald’s plan to switch to using only cage-free eggs followed a decades-long global movement against the extreme confinement of farm animals that The Humane Society helped spearhead.
