The nation's farms should prepare to see lower net cash and net income for 2015 if projections from USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) prove true.

ERS is forecasting that net cash income for U.S. farms is expected to fall by 27.7 percent in 2015 while net farm income is expected to drop by 38.2 percent in he largest single-year decline since 1983. This would be the second consecutive year of declines after recent highs posted in 2013, the agency reported.

Livestock receipts may fall by 12 percent, or $25.4 billion in 2015, a sharp contrast to the 43.8-percent increase in livestock receipts in the period between 2005 and 2014. Meanwhile, crop receipts are expected to decrease by 8.7 percent, or $18.2 billion for the calendar year, led by a forecast $8.6 billion decline in corn receipts, a $5.7-billion drop in soybean receipts and a decline of $2.7 billion in wheat receipts.

ERS noted that the reduction in livestock and crop receipts is largely driven by changes in price rather than changes in output.

The annual value of the U.S. agricultural sector production is expected to fall 9.2 percent to $427.7 billion in 2015 as the value of both livestock and crop production falls through the year, according to the ERS report.

While noting that specialty crop receipts are expected to rise in 2015, USDA chief Tom Vilsack noted that the ERS estimates also indicate that the new 2014 Farm Bill safety net programs "are working as intended and helping producers protect their operations from changes in the marketplace."

The complete details on the farm forecast are available here.

From Meatingplace; Chris Scott