Photo courtesy of Purdue University
From staff reports
The March Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer shows that farmer sentiments are down from Feb. by 12 points and are almost 40% higher than March of 2021. The March farmer’s sentiment is at 113. Producers cite they are concerned by current geopolitical conditions with Russia and Ukraine and their concerns regarding the agriculture economy. The war between Russia and Ukraine is resulting in uncertainty about what the war means for input prices and availability. Last month’s survey was the first time producers were asked what they thought about inputs and prices. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed expect input prices to rise by 20% besides input prices, the respondents said that they are also concerned about lower crop prices and lower livestock prices. and 36% think input prices will rise by 30% or more. And, just over one-fourth 27% of producers say they’ve had difficulty purchasing crop inputs for the 2022 crop season.
According to a news release, The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey. This month’s survey was conducted between March 14-18, 2022.