What’s the status of Wisconsin’s farm economy?

        After three very good years, Wisconsin farm income in 2006 took a significant plunge.  This news comes from the “Status of Wisconsin Agriculture, 2007” book, which is authored each year by faculty in the UW-Madison Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.  Net farm income dropped 40 percent from 2005 and was at its lowest level since 2002.  The main reason for the drop was very low milk prices.  Further, farm income was cut by higher costs for energy and petroleum based inputs.  There was good news as corn producers experienced some of the highest prices they had seen in many years. Despite the sharp reduction in overall net farm income, Wisconsin farmers improved their net worth position because of escalating land values.  Since 1996, the average value of farm land in the state has increased by 180 percent.  This is above the U.S. average increase of 114 percent and increases for other states in the North Central region ranging from 46 to 146 percent.  “The Status of Wisconsin Agriculture” can be viewed or printed off the internet at:  www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/status/docs/status2007.pdf

Seed vs. Chemical Costs

        The recently released Wisconsin PEPS Program results show an interesting contrast in seed and chemical costs over the past 15 years.  In the cash corn division, average seed cost per acre has increased from $24 to $44 while chemical costs (primarily pesticides) have remained fairly constant between $21 and $26 per acre (see graph).  For soybean, seed costs have increased from $21 to $36 per acre while chemical costs have declined from a high of $33 per acre in 1996 to $13 per acre in 2006.

Figure 1.  Average seed and chemical costs for participants in the Wisconsin PEPS Program from 1992-2006.

Needed:  More FdL County Land Rent Values

        Each winter, I try to collect as many land rent values as possible and sort the data by township to calculate a range and average bare land cash rent for each township.  Perhaps some of you have participated in this venture over past years.  This winter, I still need more data for these computations that are used simply to give land owners and land renters an idea of the prevailing cash rent for an area.  If you have not already filled out a form this winter at an Extension meeting and wouldn’t mind lending your values to the database, please consider calling, sending, or emailing your information to me.  Absolutely no names are associated with any of the rent data and original data sheets are destroyed once the data is entered.  If mailed, you don’t even have to put your name on the information.  However, it is important that you list each rental tract separately by township and by the price paid per acre.  I also need to know how many acres are in each tract.  In other words, I need township, acres, and price paid or received for each entry where either township or price differs.  Thanks in advance for your cooperation.  I do not print this data anywhere, but do share it willingly for anyone who calls and requests the information for a particular township.