A report released Thursday by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service shows increases across the board in U.S. farm production expenditures in 2006.
Total expenditures were up 5.4% from 2005, the report says, reaching $235 billion in 2006. Expenditures were up for every region, with the greatest increases in the West, at 12%, and the Plains at 6.6%.
The average U.S. farm's total expenditures were $112,788 in 2006 and $106,423 in 2005, and were up in every category as well, led by a 17% increase in money spent on livestock and poultry purchases and a 13% increase in taxes paid.
The study reports the following levels of average expenditures in 2005 and 2006:
2005
$14,130 on Farm Services,
$13,366 on Feed,
$10,311 on Livestock and Poultry Purchases,
$11,457 on Labor, and
$8,163 on Rent.
2006
$14,974 on Farm Services,
$14,638 on Feed,
$12,094 on Livestock and Poultry Purchases,
$11,902 on Labor, and
$8,783 on Rent.