|
 The index rose just one point from June to a reading of 118,
still 30% lower than in February before the pandemic began. The
Ag Economy Barometer is based on responses from 400 U.S.
agricultural producers. This month’s survey was conducted July
20-24.
Although there was little change in the July barometer,
producers’ perspective on current versus future conditions
shifted. The Index of Current Conditions rose 12 points from
June to a reading of 111, and the Index of Future Expectations
fell five points to a reading of 121. Unchanged from June but
nine points lower than in May, 56% of producers reported they
plan to reduce their farm machinery purchases compared with a
year ago. Thirty-eight percent of producers reported they plan
to keep machinery purchases about the same as last year, which
also was unchanged from June but seven points higher than in
May. The Farm Capital Investment Index also was unchanged from
June, standing at a reading of 60, but noticeably stronger than
May’s index reading of 50.
“Although overall farmer sentiment in July did not change much
compared to June, sentiment was still much weaker than in
February before the impact of coronavirus hit,” said James
Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of
Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. “In July,
farmers indicated they were a bit less concerned about the
current economic situation on their farms than earlier this
spring, but they are less optimistic about the future, perhaps
as a result of the recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Still,
two-thirds of producers responding to this month’s survey said
they believe Congress should provide additional economic
assistance to farmers in 2020 to help offset the pandemic’s
impact on agriculture.”
Over half of the farmers responding to the July survey said they
were less likely to attend in-person educational events in 2020
as a result of COVID-19 concerns. When asked what their top
information source would be in lieu of attending in-person
events, 36% chose farm magazines, 19% chose online webinars, 17%
chose farm radio and 17% chose websites. Direct emails and
podcasts were far less popular as a top information source with
just 8% and 3% of producers choosing these options,
respectively.
When asked about their short-term outlook for land values,
farmers’ perspective improved, with 16% saying they expect
farmland values to rise over the next 12 months compared with
10% back in June. However, when asked about farmland values in
five years, farmers were somewhat less optimistic than they were
in June, with 48% saying they expect values to rise over the
next five years compared with 55% in the previous survey.
Read the full Ag Economy Barometer report at https://purdue.ag/agbarometer.
This month’s report includes insight into how farmers are
conducting business as a result of COVID-19 and producers’ use
of marketing advisors to manage risk. The site also offers
additional resources – such as past reports, charts and survey
methodology – and a form to sign up for monthly barometer email
updates and webinars.
Each month, the Purdue Center for Commercial
Agriculture provides a short video analysis of the barometer
results, available at
https://purdue.ag/
barometervideo,
and for even more information, check out the Purdue Commercial
AgCast podcast.
[to top of second column] |
It includes a detailed breakdown of each month’s
barometer, in addition to a discussion of recent agricultural news
that impacts farmers. It is available now at https://purdue.ag/agcast.
The Ag Economy Barometer, Index of Current Conditions
and Index of Future Expectations are available on the Bloomberg
Terminal under the following ticker symbols: AGECBARO, AGECCURC and
AGECFTEX.
About the Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture
The Center for Commercial Agriculture was founded in 2011 to provide
professional development and educational programs for farmers.
Housed within Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural
Economics, the center’s faculty and staff develop and execute
research and educational programs that address the different needs
of managing in today’s business environment.
About CME Group
As the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME
Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options,
cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data –
empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk
and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest
range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes
based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy,
agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and
options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed
income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS
platform. In addition, it operates one of the world’s leading
central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. With a range
of pre- and post-trade products and services underpinning the entire
lifecycle of a trade, CME Group also offers optimization and
reconciliation services through TriOptima, and trade processing
services through Traiana.
CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex,
and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT
and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the
City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and
ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX
is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec, EBS, TriOptima,
and Traiana are trademarks of BrokerTec Europe LTD, EBS Group LTD,
TriOptima AB, and Traiana, Inc., respectively. Dow Jones, Dow Jones
Industrial Average, S&P 500, and S&P are service and/or trademarks
of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor’s Financial
Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and
have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
[Writer: Torrie Sheridan
Source: James Mintert] |
