Tifton, GA |

It’s officially time to ring in the new year and hopefully time to turn the page on a tumultuous 2024 for agriculture as well. With higher-than-expected production and lower than expected demand for some of Georgia’s staple crops, a number of farmers here in the state struggled staying out of the red.

“Unfortunately, throughout the growing season, commodity prices kept going down and down and down. And so, we kept hearing more about financial stress and concern about how are growers going to make it work this year in 2024, just because margins that were tight already, they were getting smaller to potentially negative,” says Amanda Smith, UGA Economist.

However, those looking for a big bounce back in 2025 should temper their expectations, as signs are pointing to another depressed market for a number of row crops.

“Really, the outlook for 2025 is for commodity prices to stay low again. Unfortunately for those growing the commodities. It’s good news for those that are using the commodities to feed like the livestock industry and the poultry industry because they’re going to see low feed prices there. So, good news on that side of the spectrum, but for those that are growing the commodities, the outlook is for continued low prices,” says Smith.

The news isn’t all bad, as the cost of production appears to have stabilized after seeing a nearly thirty percent jump in the past four years.

“On the input side of things, we’re really not seeing too much change from 2024. Interest rates are going to be relatively the same, maybe down just a little bit from 2024. Fertilizer prices, the prices that we are looking at right now, they’re really consistent to what we saw last year in 2024 and the same with fuels,” says Smith.

So, with margins once again expected to be tight, producers are encouraged to set a budget and plan ahead.

“If they did the calculations last year, we’re looking to see similar numbers as we saw for 2024 as far as cost of production.Just making sure that they’re watching the markets, if they can do any risk management tools like forward pricing, some of what they plan to produce to help reduce price risk, especially if they can forward price above their cost of production,” says Smith.

There is also growing optimism for a new Farm Bill in 2025, which could help mitigate some of the financial issues agriculture currently faces.

“In order for rural areas and farmers to survive, it’s important to have government policies that support agriculture and provide a safety net so we can continue to see a sustainable ag industry,” says Smith.

By: Damon Jones