EU Dairy Oversupply and Household Farm Income Up

EU Dairy Oversupply and Household Farm Income Up

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**The European Union's dairy industry continues the growing pains as efforts continue to try and shield producers from the pain of low milk prices resulting from oversupply. Ireland is the most recent case in point.

Analyst Sara Dorland, with the Daily Dairy Report, says "It seems that Ireland's milk prices, the highest in two years, are providing incentive for producers to keep cows milking longer than usual."

While Ireland's strong milk prices have encouraged producers to expand output, rapid expansion globally will pressure world milk prices lower.

https://www.milkbusiness.com/article/calls-for-subsidies-begin-anew-europe

**Better news for farmers as the USDA's Ag Economic Research Service reports farm household income will rise slightly in 2017 after remaining flat last year.

According to Successful Farming, median total farm household income will rise 1.7% to $77,551 this year.

The USDA also said in the report that the number of family farms will remain steady at about 2.03 million in 2017 after falling the past two years.

https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/farm-income-to-rise-slightly-even-as-operational-losses-mount

**President Trump is open to reforming the country's biofuels policy if it can be done in a way that protects jobs in both the refining and agriculture industries.

That's according to nine Senators who requested a meeting on the issue to argue that the Renewable Fuel Standard was threatening to put refineries in their districts out of business.

Trump had ruled in favor of Big Corn and against the refining industry in a series of decisions this year.

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