The Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer Index dipped 5 points in February to a reading of 125.
Farmers’ perspectives regarding both current conditions on their farms and their expectations for the future both weakened slightly compared to January's results.
- Farmer sentiment weakened in February as producers continue to be concerned about high input costs and, increasingly, the risk of declining output prices and rising interest rates.
- Longer term, the percentage of producers who expect to see U.S. agricultural exports rise has been declining for some time and reached a new low this month.
- Although both the long-term and short-term farmland value indices remain in positive territory, the percentage of producers who expect farmland values to fall in the upcoming year has been rising, reaching a life-of-survey peak in February.
