By Kirk Maltais
The Agriculture Department said it won't update its 2025 farm-income forecast for the rest of this year, and will wait until February to release updated figures.
The quarterly report was originally scheduled to be published by the USDA's Economic Research Service on Tuesday, but the agency said that delays stemming from the government shutdown mean that the report could not be completed in time for its Dec. 2 release date.
"Instead of compiling a much-delayed December Farm Income Forecast that would only cause subsequent delays for future work products, ERS will instead focus on preparing a timely release of the February 2026 Farm Income Forecast," a USDA spokesperson said.
The last update to this forecast was made in September, before the shutdown. In that report, the USDA forecast farm income at $179.8 billion for 2025, a 41% increase over the previous year. However, over $40 billion of that would come from direct government payouts, which would be a more than $30 billion increase from 2024.
The number is also supported by strong returns for livestock producers, with inflation-adjusted animal and animal-product cash receipts forecast to grow by 8.4%, or $23.2 billion. Meanwhile, cash receipts for crop sales were projected to fall by 5%, or $12.3 billion.
This week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Trump administration would release a plan for new "bridge payments" for U.S. farmers next week, in an effort to offset financial losses from tariffs and geopolitical turmoil.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-03-25 1216ET
