Today’s Harvest Blog

 The dairy industry is ever changing, and there is constantly news being thrown at us in all different directions. Our weekly dairy market insights newsletter is curated by the Crops Growers dairy and livestock team to keep you up to date on markets and current events impacting your dairy operation.

Farm Credit East recently hosted a webinar with Dr. Charlie Hall, of Texas A&M University, to review green industry (including nursery, greenhouse and sod industries) operational and financial performance in 2023 and provide a 2024 outlook. Read on for the key takeaways from this webinar. 

In the context of farming business structures, acquiring a life insurance policy is a prevalent practice. Here are two common scenarios and an update on an ongoing Supreme Court case involving the IRS concerning the valuation of businesses when insurance payouts are implicated and whether such proceeds are deemed liabilities or not.

The Farm Bill has been bogged down since the Fall while Congress has battled over funding the government. Given it’s an election year, Congressional leaders have acknowledged if the Farm Bill isn’t passed by mid-year, it will likely be extended for another year leaving it for the next Congress to complete. Several Farm Credit backed proposals have been introduced this Congress that would allow Farm Credit to lean into meeting the capital needs of rural America. The intent is for these “marker bills” to be included in the Farm Bill. Here is a summary of four of them.