Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on the 2024 ERS Agriculture Income Forecast

WASHINGTON, September 5, 2024 – Today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued the following statement following the release of the Economic Research Service’s 2024 Farm Sector Income Forecast:

“Today’s farm income forecast shows that while the forecast is down from the record high of 2022, 2024 is expected to end a four-year streak of farm net incomes above the 20-year average. For the previous four years, farm net incomes had been consistently at or below that historical average, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is no doubt that despite an easing in input costs, returns for agricultural producers remain challenging as we recover from market shocks such as Russia’s war in Ukraine. In other areas, however, the report improves on the difficult picture painted in the last forecast in February: that forecast predicts that livestock incomes will rise and that farmers will face falling input costs, driven by feed, fuel and fertilizer, which will help offset lower commodity prices. Farmers’ equity in their farming operations also continues to increase, up 2.7% year-on-year.

This report shows that 90% of farm households still need off-farm income to support their families and their farms — a fact that no one in rural America should have to accept, because it means we will continue to see the consolidation and loss of farms that has occurred since the 1980s. The Biden-Harris administration will continue to fight for a system where family farms work for the family, not the other way around. Our investments in climate-smart conservation, on-farm renewable energy, domestic fertilizer production, expanded local meat processing, organic markets, and sourcing from local and smaller farms will help build a more resilient, robust, and diversified food and agriculture sector so that all farms can thrive, not just the top earners. In addition to expanding access to crop insurance, which is vital in the face of increasing natural disasters and global market disruption, the next Farm Bill must strengthen this approach to investing in farms of all sizes and move us away from a dangerous ‘get big or get out of here’ approach.”

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