5.4 4.56.3 5.8 6.1 5.2 5.4 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.0 4.96.0 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.5 5.1 4.7Grazing Land:1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 19994.0 5.5 4.0 4.3 4.7 3.7 3.8 3.6 3.4 3.15.8 5.9 5.3 4.6 4.5 4.7 4.3 4.3 4.2 3.54.6 5.4 4.9 5.0 5.1 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.6 4.44.9 5.0 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.0 4.3 4.5 4.1 4.25.0 5.3 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.64.5 5.8 5.1 4.6 4.7 4.5 4.3 4.0 4.2 3.25.4 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.1 4.2 3.8 3.6 4.0 3.65.0 5.5 5.0 4.6 4.5 4.0 4.1 4.2 3.8 3.94.9 5.4 4.8 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.7The 1999 rates are consistently down from year-earlier levels for both irrigated and dryland cropland throughout the nation, and down as well for grazing land in most of the regions. On average, the nation-wide decline is about 8 percent, bringing current rates of return on agricultural land to the lowest levels of the decade. This trend is sure to continue with consistently poor grain prices and the bleak out look for the farm sector economy in the future. The following is an exert from the USDA’s Agricultural Economic Outlook published 3/20/00:Short term Near-Term Weakness Remains in U.S. Farm Economy Markets for major commodities, particularly field crops, are very weak, as supplies remain relatively large. Despite the severity of the market downturn for many producers, an overall farm economic crisis has not materialized due in large part to built-in government support and supplemental emergency economic and disaster assistance. Positive developments in U.S. agriculture this year include higher cattle and hog prices and a fairly strong national farm balance sheet.Longer term Developments, including movement back to sustained global economic growth, will strengthen agricultural trade and income prospects for U.S. farmers, according to USDA's 10-year baseline projections. Economic recovery is now underway in most of the countries affected by the global financial crisis of the late 1990's. Economic growth, especially in developing countries...
