National farm income will likely reach new highs when the final numbers come out for 2022, despite a difficult growing season. Drought, bird flu and costly fertilizer and fuel made it hard to raise crops and livestock this year. Prices skyrocketed when Russia limited Ukraine’s grain exports. A report from the U. S.. Department of Agriculture indicates high prices won out – net farm income is forecast at $160 billion, up 14 % since last year. But agricultural economist Brad Lubben says that higher profits are not evenly spread among American farmers, saying the drought definitely hurt the midwest and the great plains much more than it did the rest of the country, and in some of those places, higher prices don’t make up for the lost bushels. For example, Lubben’s most recent research indicated 2022 farm income would be flat in Nebraska.
