Farmers cautiously optimistic over ag economy
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Farmers aren’t immune to the national economy anxiety flogging everyone from government officials to consumers to tech giants. However, the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer found that farmers are relaxing a smidge and feeling cautiously optimistic about the state and future of the country’s agricultural economy.
The July edition of the survey found producer sentiment rose slightly as well as satisfaction with current and future conditions. The survey included responses from 400 farmers across the nation.
“Producers were slightly more confident about the farming economy in July, despite recent crop price volatility and continued concerns about rising interest rates,” said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, in a news release.
The rise comes when two-thirds of producers said they expect interest rates to increase over the next year, and many were more concerned over that than the volatility and decline of crop prices. The survey reported the top concern is still rising input costs.
How farmers feel about the future remains mostly unchanged regarding both the short- and long-term. Those who feel bad times are on the horizon within the next five years dipped to 39%.
Surveyors also decided to canvas how cover crops have helped farmers preserve and improve the output of their land. Four out of five farmers said they saw better soil and yields as a result.
A state conservation survey recently found a record amount of farmers are using cover crops to conserve their land.