Ag News Roundup: December 2014

By Karen Macdonald

The end of the year is typically a time for reflection and planning, and agricultural news joined the trend. AgWeb released its “Top 20 Highlights” of 2014 events impacting farmers; farm incomes, farmland values, weather, crop prices and the passage of the Farm Bill all made the list. AgWeek meanwhile took a look ahead, predicting more of the same for 2015: weather challenges, price fluctuations, Farm Bill confusion, international and environmental controversy, and the continued hurdles for entering agricultural production.

In other ag news:

Farm Credit in the News

• AgriBank: Creating a holistic approach to supporting nonprofits – Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
• Fitch Rates CoBank, ACB's $300MM Series H Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock 'BBB' – InvestorPoint.com
• AgTexas Farm Credit merges with Great Plains Ag Credit – Lubbock Online
• Carolina Farm Credit Launches New Website – San Antonio Express-News
• Farm Credit of NW Florida announces youth agricultural program – Pensacola News Journal
• MidAtlantic Farm Credit Launches New Website – PRWeb
• Farm Credit Services of America Employees Volunteer Time – Sandhills Express

Ag Economy and Land Values

• Average state farmland value declines 8.9 percent – Agri News
• Focusing on profitability for 2015 – Agweek
• Farmers, landowners renegotiate rental agreements – Agweek
• U OF Illinois Economist Issues Report on Impacts of Insurance on Ag Land Values – Agri Marketing
• USDA Forecasts Lower Crop Prices, planted Acres – Agri Marketing
• Time for year-end tax planning – Agweek
• Long-term Ag Profit Cycle: The Turnaround Is Coming – Agriculture.com
• Manage Thin Margins & Master Positive Cash Flow – Agriculture.com
• Mediated ag debts, and amounts owed, continue decline – Agri News

 Consumer Communication

• Connecting Farmers, Consumers May Shift the Landscape of U.S. Food Debates – Yahoo! Finance
• Company coming: Farmers find balance for farm tours – AgriNews
• Farmers trained to share their stories – KLGR
• Seeds of learning: School uses garden to teach valuable lessons – Investing & Stock Research - Businessweek

Farm Bill

• Dairy Margin Protection Program Deadline Extended Again – Investing & Stock Research - Businessweek
• Expected farm bill payout draws critics – Agweek
• Crop insurance elephant in the pantry – Agweek
• Farm bill: New territory for all – AgriNews
• Price loss coverage or agricultural risk coverage – Agweek
• New Farm Bill Includes New Programs for Farmers – Missouri Ag Connection

Urban and Retail Agriculture

• The business of urban farming takes root in Detroit – Fortune
• Grant seeks to expand indoor farming in Connecticut – SFGate
• County’s agriculture sees challenges, benefits to urban sprawl – AgriNews