U.S. Farmer Income Drops Most Since 2016 Amid Trade War Pain – Bloomberg

U.S. Farmer Income Drops Most Since 2016 Amid Trade War Pain – Bloomberg

Personal income for farmers fell by the most in three years in the first quarter, as losses to U.S. agriculture mount from President Donald Trump’s trade wars.

The Commerce Department on Monday cited the steep decline in farm proprietors’ income as a key factor weighing on the nation’s overall personal income growth in March, even though agricultural producers represent only about 2 percent of total employed Americans.

The report provided fresh evidence of the growing financial strain on U.S. farmers hit by the trade war, low commodity prices and a series of natural disasters including spring floods in the Midwest. With rural voters a key part of Trump’s electoral coalition, it also underscores the political pressure to conclude the China trade war as U.S. negotiators begin another round of talks in Beijing this week.

May 1, 2019 – Next Sixteen Weeks

As we head into the month of May, the days finally get longer and warmer.😎 The next sixteen weeks will mostly just be a memory of winter, the cold dark days are long gone.β›± Summer still has a lot of time left so don’t fret — indeed it will only get nicer with later sunsets and warmer temperature over the next eight weeks as summer heads our way. πŸ„

Week Date Dawn Sun-
rise
Sun-
set
Dusk Day Avg High Avg Low Record Hi Record Low
0 May 1 5:17 am 5:48 am 7:56 pm 8:26 pm 14:07 65 43 86 (2001) 28 (2008)
1 May 8 5:08 am 5:39 am 8:03 pm 8:35 pm 14:24 67 45 91 (1936) 26 (1968)
2 May 15 4:59 am 5:32 am 8:11 pm 8:43 pm 14:39 69 47 93 (1900) 31 (1977)
3 May 22 4:52 am 5:25 am 8:18 pm 8:51 pm 14:52 71 49 97 (1911) 33 (2002)
4 May 29 4:47 am 5:21 am 8:24 pm 8:58 pm 15:03 73 51 93 (1931) 34 (1956)
5 Jun 5 4:43 am 5:18 am 8:29 pm 9:04 pm 15:11 75 53 97 (1925) 39 (1990)
6 Jun 12 4:42 am 5:17 am 8:33 pm 9:08 pm 15:16 77 56 95 (2017) 38 (1972)
7 Jun 19 4:42 am 5:17 am 8:36 pm 9:11 pm 15:19 79 58 94 (1995) 38 (1950)
8 Jun 26 4:44 am 5:19 am 8:37 pm 9:12 pm 15:17 81 59 99 (1952) 39 (1979)
9 Jul 3 4:48 am 5:23 am 8:36 pm 9:11 pm 15:13 82 61 102 (1911) 44 (1978)
10 Jul 10 4:53 am 5:27 am 8:33 pm 9:08 pm 15:06 82 61 100 (1936) 47 (1963)
11 Jul 17 5:00 am 5:33 am 8:29 pm 9:03 pm 14:56 83 62 99 (1900) 45 (1974)
12 Jul 24 5:07 am 5:40 am 8:23 pm 8:56 pm 14:43 83 62 96 (1941) 45 (1985)
13 Jul 31 5:15 am 5:47 am 8:16 pm 8:48 pm 14:29 82 62 98 (1917) 49 (1978)
14 Aug 7 5:23 am 5:54 am 8:07 pm 8:38 pm 14:13 82 61 102 (1918) 46 (1994)
15 Aug 14 5:31 am 6:01 am 7:57 pm 8:28 pm 13:55 81 60 97 (1988) 44 (1941)
16 Aug 21 5:39 am 6:09 am 7:47 pm 8:16 pm 13:37 80 59 98 (1916) 42 (1977)

Fresh Grass

 No Lillies Yet On Lilly Lake

May 1, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy May πŸ•Š! How fast the time goes. Another month and Memorial Day will have come and gone and it will be June. Five weeks to 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️. Cloudy, damp and 47 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind.The skies will clear Sunday around 11 pm.

Today will have a chance of showers, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 53 degrees at 4pm. 12 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 4th. Kind of a cold and gray day to start out May for sure. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 6 to 11 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. I bought my umbrella but I’m not sure I’ll need it. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became partly cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 74 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 2001. There was a dusting of snow in 1978.❄

Certainly not a real nice day ahead. πŸ’‘ I think I’ll need my light on in the office when I get to work. That said being that it’s been above freezing for the most part in recent weeks and quite wet I expect things to continue to green up. I’m sure though that the aggie types kind of wish things would stop raining so they could do more field work. 🌱🌽 I watch too many ag channels on Youtube, it’s a constant struggle as a farmer.

The sun will set at 7:55 pm with dusk around 8:26 pm, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At sunset, look for rain showers, clouds 🌧 and temperatures around 52 degrees. Breezy, 17 mph breeze xd from the south-southeast with gusts up to 29mph. Today will have 14 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 29 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between midnight and 5am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 48 degrees at 12am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 18th. South wind 12 to 17 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2018, we had cloudy in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 45 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1974.

Yesterday was pay day πŸ’΅ which is good because after the first day of the month and the many costs of April there wasn’t a lot left over. I guess having unappropriated money is problematic but things were tighter then I would wish. Then again, I’m just so focused on the day when I can finally own land, live off-grid in the wilderness, manage my own waste, raise and hunt animals for food, 🐐 own toys like tractors and four wheeler. 🚜

I heard CDTA is switching to a new vendor and I need to update my credit card on their website πŸ’³ so that my Navigator card continues to be refilled. I bet this will lead to many unpleasant surprises for many people. The key is now to remember my password. I think I have it saved somewhere in an encrypted file.

I am still undecided about Memorial Day Weekend. β›Ί I’m not sure if I want to go to Vermont this year – I’m thinking a bit about the East Branch again but in a different campsite. The weather is often so sucky that weekend with lots of black flies. 🐜

One month πŸ“… from now will be June 🍹 when the sun will be setting at 8:26 pm with dusk at 9:00 pm. Nice long days during that month.

 Oxbow Pond Outhouse