Rollins Addresses Rising Costs and Cheese-Butter-Yogurt Demand High
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins warns U.S. farm production inputs are significantly more costly than four years ago, putting pressure on farmers’ bottom line.
Since 2020, seed expenses increased 18%, fuel and oil increased 32%, fertilizer increased 37%, and interest expenses are up a whopping 73%.
The USDA and the Department of Justice will work together to take a hard look and scrutinize competitive conditions in the agricultural marketplace, including antitrust enforcement that promotes free market competition.
**Consumer demand for products like cheese, butter and yogurt that rely on protein and butterfat content continues to drive dairy sales growth in the U.S. and abroad.
The pace of growth in butterfat content has far exceeded protein, which creates challenges for cheesemakers.
CoBank dairy economist Corey Geiger says for 10 years, the market couldn’t supply enough of it, and now there’s an oversupply, it’s almost too much of a good thing.
**The August Rural Mainstreet Index shows one-fifth of grain farmers will experience a negative cash flow in 2025.
For the seventh time this year, the overall economic index sank below growth-neutral, falling to 38.5 in September, from 48.1 in August.
Also, for the 16th time in the past 17 months, farmland prices sank below growth-neutral.
Elevated interest rates, higher input costs, and below breakeven prices caused the downward pressure on farmland.
