Disappointing News from Rural Mainstreet Index

Farm equipment sales and farmland prices have declined, according to data released in March from the Creighton Rural Mainstreet Index.

Responses from this monthly survey of bank CEOs in a 10-state rural region led to the lowest Rural Mainstreet Index since February 2010 – 43.6 on a scale of one to 100.

The survey found:

• Farmland prices sank for the 16th consecutive month.
• Farm-equipment sales declined from 19.5 on the February index to 15.2 in March, which constitutes a record low.
• Nearly one in three bankers say the Federal Reserve should not raise interest rates this year.
• Investors from outside the farm industry continue to purchase farmland; the share of buyers outside the industry has risen from 14.4% in June to 17.5% in March.
• The loan-volume index soared from 46.4 in February to 64.9 in March   S