Ag Industry Trends & Outlooks

Discover insights, trends, ag market outlooks and other topical information as it relates to the Northeast's diverse agricultural industries. Brought to you by Knowledge Exchange from Farm Credit East.
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Knowledge Exchange Partner

Knowledge Exchange Partner

Food Export-Northeast: Helping Northeast Suppliers Navigate Global Markets and Expand with International Sales

With all the news of tariffs and trade disputes between the United States and its business partners around the world, it might not seem like an ideal time to explore export opportunities. However, recent and ongoing negotiations may actually open new markets for U.S. exports. This month's Knowledge Exchange Partner highlights Food Export-Northeast, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping U.S. suppliers— particularly small- and medium-sized companies—expand their international reach. 

September 9, 2025

A large container filled with red and green apples sits in the foreground. In the background, a white semi-truck with an open trailer is parked, loaded with green crates.

Latest From Today's Harvest Blog

Ripe juicy red apples in a container. Production facilities of large warehouse - grading, packing and storage of crops.
Crop Insurance
The Importance of Production Records when Insuring your Apple Crop

With harvest upon us, apple bins are being filled and moved into storage. While this is a busy time of year for growers, it’s important to ensure you are proactively keeping track of production. We all have different ways to capture production information — whether it be a software with bin tags, hard copy logs from each trucker or sales records. The most important thing is the record keeping is done accurately.  

September 15, 2025

Featured Webinar

Soybean field at sunset
Ag Economy
2025 Grain and Oilseed Industry Outlook

In the recent webinar, Farm Credit East, Horizon Farm Credit and CoBank Lead Economists, Tanner Ehmke and Jacqui Fatka, explore the latest insights on U.S. grain and biofuel markets. With record soybean and corn harvests, profitable storage options and recovering export demand, the landscape is shifting.

January 6, 2025

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Tag: cost of production 
Farmer loading pickup truck with corn harvest in field
Knowledge Exchange Partner
Farm Credit East Production Cost Index Plateaus at New High

After a rapid rise in 2021 and 2022, the Farm Credit East Production Cost Index has plateaued after relatively modest increases over the previous decade.  This index tracks farm production costs on a relative basis, weighted towards costs that affect Northeast producers most. Major components of the index include labor, energy, family living expenses, crop inputs, as well as costs like animal feed and other dairy-related expenses, given that sector’s prominence in our region.

May 06, 2024

Knowledge Exchange Partner
Rising Input Costs, Falling Commodity Prices to Squeeze Producer Margins in 2023

Dr. Bob Maltsbarger, senior research economist with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, gives his insights on continued high input costs and the state of the cash grain and oilseed industries for 2023 in this month's Knowledge Exchange Partner.

April 01, 2023

Female farmer standing in cow barn with dairy cows, looking at tablet
Crop Insurance
Understanding Your Milk Check

Understanding your milk check is a crucial piece to your operation’s revenue and risk management strategy. Milk checks vary between cooperatives and who you sell your milk to, but breaking it down by how the line items on your check are calculated can help you determine your mailbox price and what you are paid.

March 07, 2023

looking up from the ground at a man with baseball cap on standing in cornfield working on a digital tablet,
Business Tips and Tools
Understanding your Cost of Production

Risk management is the name of the game. If you know your Cost of Production (COP), your risk management strategy can set you up to preserve three things: liquidity, equity for future investments and equity for retirement. 

February 06, 2023

Northeast Economic Engine

Download Farm Credit East’s Northeast Economic Engine report, which analyzes the economic impact of the Northeast agriculture, forest products, commercial fishing and food manufacturing industries. This report was released in October 2024. 

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Cover of the 2024 Economic Impact report