Ag Industry Trends & Outlooks

Natural resource-based businesses, like farming, fishing, forestry, and food manufacturing do more than provide food, fiber, building materials, ornamentals and other goods. They are economic engines in their communities, providing jobs and financial impacts throughout the region. In a new report, Farm Credit East, in collaboration with researchers at Cornell University, examines the economic impact of these industries in New England, New York and New Jersey.

Farm Credit East and Horizon Farm Credit reviewed the recently released "Northeast Dairy Farm Summary" report, which covered last year's financial results for 283 Northeast dairy farms and discussed the dairy market outlook for the year ahead with Corey Geiger of CoBank.

2023 was a challenging year for wood products markets. Rising interest rates hampered demand while capacity ramped up across the south. Paul Jannke, a forest industry expert with Forest Economic Advisors (FEA), recently presented his perspective on the region’s forest product markets and economic outlook.

Farm Credit East recently hosted a webinar with University of Vermont’s Mark Cannella who provided a glimpse into statistics and trends in North American maple syrup production and a look into the Maple syrup and sugar industry in 2024.