Since 2009, wealth in the U.S. farm sector has surged along with booming farmland values. Similar to nonfarm households, farm enterprises historically have used wealth to support consumption and investments when income fades. During years of low income, farmers tap their existing wealth to...

A wave of capital investment has spread throughout the U.S. farm sector in recent years. With booming farm profits, farmers have made a range of real estate investments, building new structures such as grain bins and machine sheds and improving productivity through expanded pivot irrigation and...

The 2012 drought has reignited the food versus fuel debate. After cutting U.S. corn production below recent years’ consumption, the drought sparked a U.S. grain shortage and sent global food prices soaring. As the grain shortage intensified, pressure to relieve the shortage by easing ethanol...

Attracting and retaining the next generation of farm operators has been a persistent struggle in U.S. agriculture. Over the past century, productivity gains in U.S. agriculture have led to the consolidation of farm enterprises into larger operations, limiting opportunities for farm ownership and...

Despite a severe drought, profits in the U.S. farm sector soared in 2012. Beginning in late June, U.S. crops and pastures wilted under one of the worst droughts in history. Although total farm incomes remained high, the drought exacerbated a widening gulf in profitability between the crop and...