Top 3 Ag Stories for 2016
Three big takeaways from 2016 as we head into the new year.
The first is a new anti-regulation, anti-establishment President-elect is on his way to the oval office. Donald Trump promised lower taxes and less regulation while sweeping the farm states during the 45th presidential election. While his attacks on overregulation, including the Waters of the United States rule, are viewed favorably by most in the ag community, it's less clear how his stance on trade, immigration, and ethanol will impact farmers.
2016 was also the year of pending mergers in the ag industry with ChemChina's offer to buy Syngenta, on the heels of Dow and Dupont's plan to merge the year before, and Monsanto's approved merger with Bayer this month.
Less welcome news was the continued drop in commodity prices resulted in sharply lower net farm income. The USDA's 2016 Farm Income Forecast Report showed net farm income down 17%.
