Farmers surveyed logged the lowest score in the seven-year history of the DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agriculture Confidence Index. (DTN graphic by Nick Scalise)
The recent Ag Confidence Index compiled by DTN reached the lowest score recorded since the poll began. Known as the ACI, the August results from farmer surveys produced the lowest score, of 72 in the seven-year history of the index. One year ago, the ACI was a more neutral 98. The data reflects a 27 percent drop in confidence from last year. A poll organizer says the results indicate that “bad has become the new normal” for many farmers. The DTN Agriculture Confidence Index is based on surveys from 500 farmers who are asked a series of questions regarding their financial and business conditions. The survey is conducted before planting, before harvest and just before the end of the year. Results above a rating of 100 indicate optimism, while results below 100 indicate pessimism in confidence.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.
From: DTN The Progressive Farmer
Ag Confidence Index Falls
DTN/PF Survey Reveals Down is the New Normal
Greg D. Horstmeier , DTN Editor-in-Chief
The mood of farmers across the country continues to slump, according to the most recent DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agriculture Confidence Index.
Farmers surveyed in August produced the lowest score, a pessimistic 72, in the seven-year history of the index. One year ago, the ACI was a more neutral 98.
That 27% drop, which is also down slightly from the pre-planting April findings, is “driven by producers simply feeling their present situation is pretty awful,” said pollster Robert Hill, principal of Caledonia Solutions, and the creator of the DTN/PF index. “It seems that ‘bad’ has become the new ‘normal’ as their situation hits proverbial rock-bottom,” Hill said.
Permission given for use by Greg D. Horstmeier, DTN Editor-in-Chief
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