Limited Growth in Farm Lending and 6% of U.S. Dairies Quit Milking

**Growth in farm lending activity at commercial banks was limited in the first quarter of 2023 as interest rates climbed higher.

The Kansas City Fed says alongside additional increases in the federal funds’ rates, interest rates on farm loans rose sharply.

The rapid rise has shifted the range of rates offered to borrowers considerably higher.

Despite higher interest rates, the availability of credit remains strong at agricultural banks.

**The House of Representatives was unsuccessful in getting enough votes to override President Biden’s veto of legislation undoing a rule defining the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.

Despite persuading ten Democrats to vote against President Biden’s EPA rule, the vote failed 227-196 and didn’t meet the two-thirds requirement for overriding a presidential veto.

The rule specified what wetlands, streams, and other waterways qualify for federal protection as Waters of the United States.

**A USDA report says roughly 6% of U.S. dairy farms quit milking cows in 2022, but that was a slower rate of decline than during the past five years.

Twenty years ago, there were 70,375 dairy herds in the country.

In 2022, there were 27,932 herds following the exit of 1,910 dairy herds across the nation.

The average herd size is growing, and per-cow and total milk production has increased.