Even with record-setting yields across parts of the Ninth Federal Reserve District, farm incomes remain under pressure. “Overwhelmingly, lenders told us that farm incomes decreased relative to a year ago,” said Joe Mahon, regional outreach director, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. “Capital expenditures, such as purchases of equipment and buildings, and other capital by farm operations, were also down quite a bit.” Market conditions continue to overshadow the positive impact of strong crop production. “Lower prices are still driving incomes down. Strong production should offset some of that. So that’s good news to farmers, but not necessarily seeing that balance out in terms of higher income because prices are so low.”
