Net Farm Income Up & 2015 Hay Outlook

Net Farm Income Up & 2015 Hay Outlook. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

According to a new report out from the University of Idaho the net farm income in Idaho experienced a 16% increase over 2013 figures which is the fourth year of record highs. There report is based on a calendar year according to ag economists Garth Taylor and Ben Eborn. Leading the upsurge were livestock cash receipts exceed 60% of total - indirectly even more and the report says a lot of that growth comes from technology. The complete report is available online.

The main topic of discussion at the Northwest Hay Expo in Kennewick, Washington was the port issue that has both imports and exports stymied. Hay exporter, Bob Eckenberg with Eckenberg Farms says 2015 looks like a year for alternatives.

ECKENBERG: I think everybody is looking for alternatives. We're all business owners, we're all individuals. We've got to try to stay alive and we've got people we've had to lay off and that is extremely tough in November and December. The main goal of all exporters is that our markets aren't going to shift to some other nation. That's the biggest concern. What's going to happen to our industry? Is it going to stay here or is it going to move to a different nation?

And again, hay is just one of many commodities being affected by the port issue.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.