Farm incomes have been on the rise for the past five years and while they may drop some in 2023,  they will still remain at a healthy level. That’s according to Blaine Nelson, senior economist on the strategy, research, and analytics team at Farmer Mac. He describes what we can expect this year in terms of acreage, commodity prices, and farmland values.

“Farm incomes peaked last year according to the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) February report, on a net cash farm income level, nearly $200 billion, which is the highest level on record,” says Nelson. “What's interesting is that the USDA doesn't see that momentum necessarily carrying forward and it's not necessarily likely that they would, given that we peaked at record levels last year.”

Nelson adds that we're going to decline about 23 percent this year, according to USDA’s report. While this sounds like a large percent of decline in farm incomes, the thing to keep in mind is that it is only $150 billion, which is about 50 percent higher than the historical average. This means that farm incomes are likely to remain elevated this year.