Ag Barometer:
Willingness to Invest Trends Upward

The overall sentiment of the nation’s farmers is mostly flat in the new Purdue and CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. In findings released last week, the index dropped two points from October to November; the two sub-indices held steady.

The Index of Current Conditions remains lower than it was prior to the current trade climate. The Index of Future Expectations has rebounded to numbers from spring 2018.

Jim Mintert from Purdue sees indications that farmers may be more willing to consider large long-term investments compared to a couple of months ago.

“If you look at some longer-term questions, in particular the advisability of making large investments in machinery and buildings, we have seen another improvement there,” he said. “That index bottomed out two months ago at a reading of 42, improved last month to a reading of 52, and then improved again this month to a reading of 56.”

Only 13 percent of respondents said they expect farm profitability to improve in the next 12 months.

Source: Purdue News