News

Farmers more optimistic about the ag economy, but still show concerns

An ag economist says producers are showing optimism about improvements in the ag economy, but still hold concerns about current conditions.

Jim Mintert is with Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

“Clearly people are still worried about those key factors of what it costs to put a crop in the ground and what they’re going to sell things like corn soybeans and wheat for,” he says.

He tells Brownfield fewer respondents are worried about interest rates.

“That’s consistent with fed policy and and fact that the Fed continues to signal that they anticipate making more interest rate cuts going forward,” he says.

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.

The Federal Reserve announced another cut in interest rates on Thursday.