Income increases for farmers

Posted by IronPlanet on Mar 21, 2012 8:52:00 AM

High prices for crops and overall good yields are leading to a boom time for the agricultural industry, and farmers are reaping the benefits, reports The Kansas City Star.

Farmers made $98 billion in income last year, which was a record, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. This year looks to be just as strong, as farmers are gearing up for one of the largest crop plantings of all time.

"Over the last two, three years, the U.S. farm sector has been enjoying banner farm incomes," said Jason Henderson, manager of the Omaha branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. "It's been a real boom time."

Henderson said that income has risen by 30 percent in each of the last two years, according to the news source. The reasons for this are threefold. For starters, production is up, meaning farmers are planting and harvesting more crops.

Yet the other reasons have to do with the actual selling of the products. Prices for commodities like corn and soybeans are on the rise, making them incredibly valuable. And exports are increasing as well as growing countries like China look to import food from the United States. That gives farmers a wider range of people to sell to.

In order to take advantage of this boom in the farm economy, agriculturalists must have the right equipment. One way to save money on equipment is by shopping through IronPlanet, which offers a wide range of equipment such as combine harvesters and farm tractors at prices cheaper than buying new.

Topics: Industry Headlines