Washington-The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Aug. 27 released a report forecasting that net farm income would be $54.0 billion in 2009, down $33.2 billion (38 percent) from the preliminary estimate of $87.2 billion for 2008. The 2009 forecast is $9 billion below the average of $63.2 billion in net farm income earned in the previous 10 years. USDA said that 2009 crop prices have continued to decline, and prices for livestock animals and products have experienced sharp declines. With economic conditions deteriorating worldwide, demand for exports has tailed off, and there are few options available to expand marketing elsewhere. Sharply declining demand in 2009 has forced farmers to accept prices that are lower than were expected earlier in the year when production plans were made. The USDA forecast was not good news for the agriculture and fertilizer sectors on Wall Street. Already on Aug. 28, trading on some major fertilizer company stocks was starting to wane and at least one analyst had announced fertilizer company downgrades.
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