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Producer sentiment dips, reflecting uncertainty

Farmer sentiment drifted lower amid uncertainty in the industry, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Jim Mintert, director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, tells Brownfield farmers are still concerned about ag inputs.

“People continue to worry about input prices, what it’s going to cost to put a crop in the ground next year,” he says. “People are still worried about input availability. That’s a little bit of a surprise to me that we still have between 12-15 percent of the people in the survey telling us one of their top concerns for the upcoming year is whether or not they’ll be able to obtain the inputs that they really need and want to put a crop in the ground next year.”

He says rising interest rates are also top of mind.

“(Rising interest rates) are maybe having some influence with respect to machinery purchases and starting to have some impact on land values,” he says. “Despite the fact that for most farmers 2022 is going to be a pretty reasonable and profitable year, there are a lot of concerns about where we’re headed. We’ve seen this run up in interest rates and expectations for even more increases looking ahead to the rest of this year and perhaps spilling over into 2023.”

Forty-four percent of respondents chose higher input costs as their top concern. Twenty-three percent said rising interest rates, 14 percent said availability of inputs, and eight percent choose lower crop and/or livestock prices.

The overall Ag Economy Barometer drifted five points lower to a reading of 112 in September. The Index of Current Conditions declined to 109, nine points lower than in August. The Index of Future Expectations dropped three points to a reading of 113.

The monthly national survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers was conducted Sep. 19-23.

Audio: Jim Mintert