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Crop prices and payments likely led to increase in this month’s Ag Economy Barometer

An ag economist says he was surprised rising input costs didn’t negatively impact the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Michael Langemeier, director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, says the timing of this month’s survey likely contributed to the increase in farmer sentiment.

“The government payments came out in late February, early March,” he says. “That was $35 to $40 per acre. Corn was 20 cents higher in March, and soybeans were up 40 cents. You put all those things together, and I think that helps explain why the index of current conditions was up.”

The Current Conditions Index and the Future Expectations Index also increased. 

He tells Brownfield nearly 50 percent of survey respondents listed the cost of production as their biggest concern in 2026. 

“It’s really hard to tell where some of these things are going,’ he says. “If we see some persistence in input cost increases, I think that’s going to have a detrimental impact on sentiment than if we had an increase in general inflation and inputs due to the Iranian conflict.”

Langemeier says he expects the conflict in the Middle East to impact next month’s survey.

The Barometer is a nationwide measure of the health of the U.S. agricultural economy and surveys 400 agricultural producers on economic sentiment each month.

AUDIO: Michael Langemeier, Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture