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Farmer sentiment declines due to ag policy uncertainty

An ag economist says trade concerns contributed to the decline in farmer sentiment in the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. 

Professor emeritus Jim Mintert says producers are less optimistic about current conditions. But, “Sentiment in the ag sector is still relatively strong, so it’s lower than the last couple of months,” he says. “When you look at a little longer contact, still relatively optimistic. The optimism that we picked up last fall, especially surrounding the election, we’ve retained most of that.”

He tells Brownfield there’s a growing concern about how potential trade disruptions could impact the future of ag exports.

“We got the highest reading, the largest percentage of producers in the life of the survey, who think exports will actually decline in the next 5 years,” he says. “It kind of makes you wonder about farmers’ longer term expectations. It hasn’t shown up yet, but underneath that it could show up later.”

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy 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: Jim Mintert, Purdue University