After increasing by 9.1% in 2024, current U.S. farm debt is expected to increase 3.8% in 2025 (USDA-ERS, 2026).  Current debt includes operating loans and principal payments related to machinery,…

The US crop safety net has been a remarkably adaptive, evolutionary policy. But, 21st Century assistance is raising the question of excessive levels for barley, corn, cotton, oats, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat, the crops that USDA ERS computes an economic cost of production. Since 2000, annual market net return on average fell 4.2%/year below economic cost of production for these nine crops, but safety net payments averaged 12.7%/year of costs, more than triple the level needed to cover losses.

Increases in both interest rates and average loan sizes have led to significant increases in both interest expenses and first-year loan payments faced by FSA farm loan borrowers over the last twenty years. Between 2005 and 2025, guaranteed operating loans faced the largest increase in total first-year interest expenses, increasing 97% on average. This contributed to an increase in average first-year loan payment levels for guaranteed operating loans of 91%.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act dramatically increased the premium support on Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) crop insurance policies from 65% to 80%. The Risk Management Agency of the USDA then announced in August of 2025 that premium support would also be increased to 80% for the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) and other similar programs. As a result, farmer-paid premiums for SCO and ECO will be reduced in 2026.

The USDA’s cattle inventory report places the total number of cattle and calves on January 1 at 86.7 million head, as the industry continues into a 7th consecutive year of contraction within the cattle cycle. The report indicates smaller beef cow and beef replacement heifer inventories and a smaller calf crop than anticipated. The report again confirms anticipated year over year drops across most inventory categories with fewer beef cows than any time since 1960 and the lowest total inventory since 1951.

Over the past seven years, the interest expense faced by producers receiving a new USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm loan has increased 50 to 62 percent and the total first-year payment has increased 72 to 89 percent. This is due to both increases in interest rates and loan amounts. Increases in the average size of farm loans received by farmers points to an underlying need for larger levels of financing. This is likely driven by the increase in the costs of variable and fixed inputs.

In a sign of growing stress for U.S. farmers, the Agriculture Department forecast on Thursday that U.S. net farm income would fall 0.7% this year, despite near-record government payments that…

A bipartisan group of former leaders of America’s major agricultural commodity associations and biofuels organizations, farmer leaders, and former senior USDA officials sent congressional ag leaders a letter on Tuesday…

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a proposed rule governing how biofuel makers can access a $1-per-gallon tax credit for low-carbon transportation fuels, including aviation fuel. The rule was…

Farmers and repair shops are allowed to temporarily override emission control systems for repair purposes, according to guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency Monday.

House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson has tentatively scheduled a farm bill markup for the week of Feb. 23, according to three people familiar with the plans.