News

K-State agricultural economist Robin Reid talks about the just-released county rates for the next round of USDA Market Facilitation Program payments:  she goes over the rate trends in Kansas and what she believes influenced those the most, and she reviews the payment application procedure.

Excerpts from a recent webinar by professor and head of Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Allen Featherstone, regarding the process for calculating the landlord net income for property tax computations and when agricultural landlord net income may begin to fall, as well as discussion of  three scenarios and the possible impact of House Bill 2293, which was introduced – but not acted upon – in the last Kansas legislative session.

The newly-named dean of the College of Agriculture at K-State, Ernie Minton, shares his aspirations for the college in the areas of education, research and Extension outreach under his leadership, and talks about the immediate priorities that he intends to address.

Terry Griffin and Beth Yeager talk more about the age demographics of Kansas farms, based on Kansas Farm Management Association data, and the impact of the different farming generations on decisions to adopt precision agricultural technology...this analysis sheds light on important trends of interest to producers and technology providers.

The executive director of the Kansas Farm Management Association at K-State, Kevin Herbel, talks about trends in farm family living expenses, as indicated in the latest K-F-M-A data, and how those expenses factor into the profitability of Kansas farms:  he talks about the main living expenses and how farm families have managed those as farm income has declined over the past several years.

Monte Vandeveer shares his new analysis of the options afforded corn producers under the crop insurance prevented planting provisions, with his projected trade aid payment levels tied in. He has projected the economic returns of different scenarios, figuring in likely corn price trends in the advent of a short U.S. corn crop. He also talks about a new K-State spreadsheet tool that producers can use to calculate the best option for their situation.

A detailed look at the just-released Kansas Net Farm Income report for 2018 from the Kansas Farm Management Association at K-State. This report is widely regarded as an important indicator of the economic health of production agriculture in the state. This year it shows a notable improvement in average net farm income, but with a major caveat that must be taken into account: the impact of the Market Facilitation Payments program. Kevin Herbel and KFMA economists discuss NFI across the six regions of the state and also take a look at the ongoing challenges in farm equity.

K-State agricultural economist Mykel Taylor talks about how the lack of basis convergence in the grain markets can hamper a producer's ability to successfully forward-contract grain sales. She reported her research findings on this impact to the attendees at the 2019 Agriculture Commodity Futures Conference co-sponsored by Kansas State University earlier this month.