About the Ag Economy Barometer

James Mintert, David Widmar, Michael Langemeier Agricultural producer sentiment rose sharply as 2016 drew to a close. December’s reading of 132 for the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer marked the second month in a row that the index increased, rising to its highest level since data collection began in October 2015. The December reading is 16 points above November’s and 40 points higher than in October (Figure 1). The barometer is based on a monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the country. Optimism about both current and future economic conditions helped drive the barometer higher during December. Although…

James Mintert, David Widmar, Michael Langemeier Agricultural producers’ sentiment improved markedly in November, reaching its highest level since October 2015. At 116, the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer–a monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the country–was considerably higher than October 2016’s value of 92 and also compared favorably with the early summer reading of 112 (Figure 1). Reduced pessimism about the future, motivated in part by improving corn and especially soybean prices, was the driving force behind the improvement in this month’s barometer. The Ag Economy Barometer can be broken down into two component indexes: the Index of…

By Jim Mintert, David Widmar, Michael Langemeier The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer settled lower in October. Based on a survey of 400 agricultural producers across the U.S., the monthly measure of U.S. agricultural producers’ sentiment was measured at 92, the lowest reading since March 2016 and the second-lowest Ag Economy Barometer value since data collection began in October 2015 (Figure 1).     The decline in producer sentiment recorded during October was primarily driven by an erosion in producers’ perspective regarding the long-run health of the U.S. agricultural economy. The forward-looking component of the Ag Economy Barometer, the Index…