About the Ag Economy Barometer

By Jim Mintert, David Widmar and Michael Langemeier The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer launched publically in May 2016 with the release of survey results from an April 2016 survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers. The barometer’s public launch came following six months of data collection used to establish a base period for the barometer and its two sub-indices, the Index of Current Conditions and the Index of Future Expectations. On the one-year anniversary of the Barometer’s public launch, we reflect back on some things we’ve learned since the beginning of data collection in October 2015. Commodity prices are important…

James Mintert, David Widmar, Michael Langemeier   The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer slipped to 124 in March, marking the second month in a row that producer sentiment dropped below the prior month’s level. Recent weakness in the Barometer – which is based on a monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the U.S. – followed a sharp improvement in producer sentiment from November through January. Although producer sentiment fell in both February and March, producers remain more optimistic about the agricultural economy than during all but the last two months of 2016 (Figure 1).     30…

James Mintert, David Widmar, Michael Langemeier Following three months of strong gains, the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer shifted course during February, declining to a reading of 134 compared to 153 a month earlier. Although the Barometer—a measure of producer sentiment based on a monthly survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers—fell 19 points below its record high set in January, it was still the second highest reading since data collection began in fall 2015 (Figure 1).     The two component indices of the Ag Economy Barometer, the Index of Current Conditions and the Index of Future Expectations, also backed…