Livestock in the black; crops in the red for 2014

Minnesota livestock producers had one of their best years ever in 2014, but crop ­farmers struggled with the lowest incomes in several years.

Livestock farmers chalked up median incomes of $138,037, compared with $97,669 in 2012 and $38,479 in 2013, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the University of Minnesota Extension. The beef, pork and dairy farmers benefited from lower feed costs as corn and soybean prices fell, and meat and milk prices hit all-time highs in 2014.

Crop farmers, however, saw income drop for the second consecutive year, with median incomes of $17,003, compared with $48,120 in 2013 and $260,940 in 2012, when drought affected many other states and prices skyrocketed.

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