Both Farmer Mac and commercial banks reported a 7 percent increase in agriculture-related loans last year versus 2014. With an outlook for depressed commodity prices to continue (absent a weather event), Farmer Mac sees cost containment as the primary strategy for profitability.The House Agriculture Committee’s subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit held a hearing last week on the topic of Tightening Credit Conditions, the second of many expected to eventually be held by each subcommittee in relation to farm policy (see Ag Perspectives, 18 April). Following are some key observations from this latest hearing:
Commodity prices are dropping faster than land rents, putting a number of producers under pressure to service their...
Tanker-tracking data shows a smaller recovery in oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz than previously thought. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking by video to an international energy conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said that oil moving through the strait was back to 80 to 90 percent...
