AEDE Associate Professor Ani Katchova is serving as a chair for a review panel for the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) Farm Income and Wealth Forecast Program.
“Our goal is to study how ERS makes farm income forecasts and estimates for the U.S. and state farm sector income and to offer recommendations for improvement,” Katchova said.
She received funding from a cooperative agreement with ERS to support this work.
Ani Katchova is an Associate Professor and Farm Income Enhancement Chair in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at Ohio State.
“This review will bring together the farm income forecast work done by the Farm Income team at USDA and the farm income and finance research we do here for the Farm Income Enhancement Program at Ohio State. This work will enhance both farm income programs at USDA and OSU,” Katchova said.
The 2018 farm income forecast released by USDA last week shows that net farm income in 2018 is expected to decline by 6.7% from 2017. If realized, farm income would decline by about 50% since it’s highest in 2013. USDA publishes forecasts four times before publishing a final estimate for farm income and wealth. The review panel will study the accuracy of these forecasts and its components. The panel is expected to produce a report with its findings in 2019.
