Net income projected to rise August 31, 2011 6:00 AM By RICK ELKINS THE PORTERVILLE RECORDER
The past three years have not been that good to farmers in the richest farming region in the world. Low prices for their commodities pared with high prices for inputs left many struggling to survive. That is beginning to change.
The state’s 81,700 farms and ranches received a record high $37.5 billion for their output last year. California agriculture revenues increased 9 percent for 2010 from the revised 2009 income level of $34.6 billion, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service.
The good news does not stop at California. Nationally, net farm income is forecast at $103.6 billion for 2011, up $24.5 billion for a rise of 31 percent from 2010.