News

The executive director of the Kansas Farm Management Association, K-State's Kevin Herbel, offers his assessment of the economic state of production agriculture in Kansas currently, and offers a checklist of what producers can do to improve their financial management in 2019:  setting achievable goals; keeping an organized set of financial records; and managing debt structure. He also details the benefits of conducting an enterprise analysis and projecting the financial returns to each enterprise; using economic benchmarks for a comparative analysis of an operation; and preparing a cash flow for the farm or ranch, as well as looks at the family expenses on a farm, including health care and insurance. 

Livestock economist Lee Schulz of Iowa State University provides this week's insight on the cattle markets:  in addition to reviewing last week's trading trends, he talks about the current market for bred cows, and about the value of considering a 10-year projection on the cattle markets.

Professor of agricultural law and taxation Roger McEowen of the Washburn School of Law talks about two new legal developments of interest to agricultural producers:  one is a court ruling on a liability insurance coverage case involving a "hobby" farm, and the other is a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a long-standing case on taxation of a living trust.

The director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center at K-State, Brian Briggeman, and the associate director of the Kansas Farm Management Association at K-State, Mark Dikeman, talk about a late-breaking development that grain farmers and cooperatives should know about...it could have a one-time impact on a farmer's ability to claim a section 199A tax deduction on grain sales.

K-State agricultural economist Art Barnaby reports on K-State's preliminary evaluation of the price-support and risk-management features of the new farm bill:  he looks at making the choice between the ARC and PLC program options, and talks about subtle changes to the crop insurance program. There is also discussion with Art, who reflects on what he considers the most significant developments in federal farm "safety net" provisions and crop insurance over his 39-year career at K-State, as he is retiring at the end of this month.

K-State agricultural economist Jesse Tack talks about his latest study of the adoption of genetically-modified corn over the last three decades, and how that technology has helped producers contend with changes in climatic patterns over that time...his work says that genetically-engineered corn has contributed favorably toward that end.

The director of Extension at K-State, Gregg Hadley, talks about the highlights in Extension programs and activities over the past year in the areas of agriculture, water resources, farm financial mediation, irrigation technology advances, and more, including the areas of health, youth development and community vitality. He points out efforts at developing a culture of health in Kansas communities, and expanding the 4-H experience to reach an ever-greater number of youth.

Brian Coffey and Terry Griffin talk about their new economic analysis of how taking part or all of a day off from farming activities for religious purposes affects farm income...their work shows that there is a cost to observing the Sabbath, although that has to be weighed against the faith and spiritual value of doing so.

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