Posted: 01.23.2012

Although the details won't be formally released until the Ag Outlook Forum on Wednesday, all indications are that Wisconsin agriculture was one of the brightest spots in the states economy.

Dr. Bruce Jones, collaberator that helped assembly the outlook content - says that farmers may be surprised to know that 2011 was a record breaker.  Jones said the state came in with about $2.4 billion more in Wisconsin agricultural receipts - that's $400 million higher then 2010 and almost triple what farmers saw in 2009.

Jones said Wisconsin farmers aren't letting the higher prices go to their heads, however.  Jones said that a lot of what was gained in 2011 went back to paying off debt that was incurred in 2009. 

What's ahead for 2012 - well, it's not projected to be nearly as rosey as 2011. Jones said that he expects milk prices to go lower while feed costs will remain fairly high.  He says that's good news for cash grain growers - but not such good news for Wisconsin's livestock sector.

Dr. Bruce Jones was a guest on Pam Jahnke's network farm show.  You can hear all of his explanation on the Ag Outlook Forum results by clicking here.

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