Farmer sentiment continues to decline – WISH-TV | Indianapolis News | Indiana weather



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by: Wes Mills, Inside INdiana Business

Posted: / Update:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Inside INdiana Business) – Results from a monthly farmer sentiment survey show growers’ optimism fades as they worry about rising input costs and the financial outlook of their operations. The Purdue University / CME Group Agricultural Economy Barometer lost 14 points in September to reach 124.

The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, which is leading the survey, says growers feel less optimistic about current conditions as well as their expectations for the future.

Purdue says this is the weakest farmer sentiment reading since July 2020, when the index was 118.

The barometer shows a sharp increase in farmers’ expectations for agricultural input price inflation, with more than a third expecting the prices of inputs, such as seeds, fuel and chemicals, to increase by more than 12% in the coming year.

“Which is more than six times the average inflation rate for farm inputs over the past decade,” center director Jim Mintert commented in the report. “The percentage of respondents expecting input inflation to exceed 12% has fallen from 21% last month to 34% this month.”

Farmers are also worried about exports. Mintert says that by early 2020, about 70% of producers expected agricultural exports to increase over the next five years. Since then, farmers’ expectations about the future prospects for agricultural trade have steadily weakened.

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