Farmers across the United States are voicing growing concerns about declining income levels as they face a mix of falling commodity prices, higher production costs, and uncertainty in global markets. Net farm income, which had risen to historic highs in recent years due to strong export demand and government support programs, is now projected to decline as demand softens and farm operating expenses remain elevated. Rising interest rates have added to the pressure, making it more expensive for producers to finance equipment, land, and inputs such as seed and fertilizer. For many operations, these tighter margins are raising questions about long-term financial sustainability.


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American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on a nationwide injunction ordered by the federal court in the Eastern District of Texas halting enforcement of the Beneficial Ownership Information filing requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The requirement essentially requires the filing of private business ownership information with the federal government.


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The Trump administration’s proposed new definition of “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act is either a radical policy shift that misinterprets Supreme Court precedent and will leave up to 70 percent of tributaries and half the nation’s wetlands unprotected, or it’s a constitutionally valid approach to regulating the nation’s waters that preserves the states’ lead role over water pollution control and land use planning.


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Major U.S. agricultural production groups are pulling together their requests for the next farm bill — the massive legislation that Congress rewrites every five years to set farm and food policy — with crop insurance and disaster assistance on the top of their lists.

A panel of executives from farm groups detailed some of their concerns and requests for the next farm bill Tuesday at the Minnesota FarmFest, an agribusiness fair organized by the American Farm Bureau.


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