Producer Contentment Rebounds Even Without Latest Trade Bailout

(WEST LAFAYETTE, IN) The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer reading jumped 27 points from June, and 52 points from May (now at 153). Improving crop conditions after an extraordinarily wet planting season, combined with a late spring/early summer crop price rally, boosted farmer sentiment. This improvement occurred despite the fact that many producers were in the midst of filing prevented planting crop insurance claims and wondering about the size of the USDA’s 2019 Market Facilitation Payments (MFP). Results are based on a survey of 400 agricultural producers across the U.S. conducted in mid-July, prior to USDA’s announcement of 2019 MFP payment rates. A major driver of sentiment was improved expectations for current economic conditions. The Index of Current Conditions, a sub-index of the ag barometer, increased 44 points in July (141), marking the largest one-month improvement since data collection began in October of 2015. The barometer’s other sub-index, the Index of Future Expectations, also increased 18 points from June (159).