Discounts offered by input suppliers offer an opportunity to manage farm costs. Seed pricing can be difficult to evaluate; a producer must weigh early pay discounts, volume discounts and base prices.

Some of the major concerns in the dairy industry regarding the implementation of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) were increased costs due to management changes and unavailability of in-feed antibiotic medication.

In January 2017, the FDA issued new regulations for the use of some medicated feed products in livestock. Antibiotics considered important to human medicine now fall under the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). A VFD is a written authorization from the veterinarian providing oversight of the animals on the farm.

What Is the Issue?
Farm businesses’ debt-use decisions can affect their growth and survival, as well as the economic vitality of farm-dependent rural communities. Thus policymakers, agricultural lenders and other farm-sector participants closely follow trends in farm debt.