This may be the year that farmers put a new set of spark plugs in their old Farmall tractors, instead of replacing them with new rigs.
Farmers are not going to have as much money to bank at the end of the harvest season as the federal government forecast earlier this year and, as usual, they will draw the bulk of their earnings from off-the-farm jobs.
When farmers close their books on the 2008 growing season, net farm income is expected to total $86.9 billion, according to a revised estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This is little changed from last year when farmers across the country earned a collective $86.8 billion.
At the beginning of the corn harvest season, the government was predicting that net farm income would reach $95.7 billion, an increase of 10 percent over the previous year.
This year's payout is still going to be 42 percent above the 10-year average of $61.1 billion. But earlier in the year, the USDA expected the 2008 payout to be 57 percent higher than the 10-year average.
Farm net cash income - a farmer's income minus production costs and depreciation of equipment - is also expected to be less than the USDA's previous projection. According to the government's latest figures, net cash income will be $90.7 billion. This would be $3.3 billion (4 percent) above last year and 33 percent above the 10-year average.
Net cash income is projected to rise more than net farm income because of the carry-over of 2007 corn, soybeans and other crops that are being sold this year.
In September, the government predicted net cash income would reach a record $101.3 billion this year. This would have been a gain of 16 percent over last year.
Looking at the current year, the government said a large increase in the value of crop production was offset by rising production costs for the farm sector.
The value of crop production, at $181 billion, is forecast to exceed the 2007 record by $30 billion, or 20 percent.
The USDA said that income performance will not be the same across all farms. In 2008, current commodity and input indicate that incomes will likely be lower for cotton, specialty crops and livestock operations.
Unlike the situation for grains and oilseeds, receipts on these farms are not expected to rise enough from 2007 levels to offset increases in expenses.
