CoBank Releases 2019 Year Ahead Report

The U.S. economy is still performing well by most key measures. However, Global and U.S. economic prospects are weakening, and the agricultural economy shows few signs of an imminent comeback, according to a comprehensive 2019 outlook report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division. A CoBank spokesperson says trade uncertainty, rising debt levels and market volatility are “threatening to derail the global economy and creating difficult operating environments for U.S. agriculture.” The CoBank outlook report examines ten key factors that will shape agriculture and market sectors that serve rural communities throughout the United States. With agricultural commodity markets depressed by global supply abundance and ongoing trade disputes, farmers and ranchers face the difficult task of cutting production costs. However, continually rising costs in agriculture are expected to squeeze producers, causing further margin erosion and financial stress in 2019. Further, the report says farmers should not bank on a fourth consecutive year of above-trend crop yields to make up for low commodity prices and rising costs.