The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer moved higher in June with an index setting of 104, a seven-point increase over May’s report.
The Ag Economy Barometer measures the overall health of the nation’s agriculture economy. June marked the third month in a row that the Ag Economy Barometer was much stronger than the record-low of 85 set back in March of this year. A key factor supporting an improving producer outlook is a stronger corn and soybean market, according to organizers of the poll. During June, prices traded in ranges not seen since 2015. A recent trend shows a strong difference between how producers feel about their individual operations against the overall health of the Ag economy. The number of farmers who think their operations will be financially worse off in the next year rose from 27 percent to 37 percent in June. The number of people in the survey expecting hard times financially in the overall Ag economy dropped from 75 percent in April to 65 percent in June. Other survey results also show that almost half of the producers surveyed expect some extreme weather events to impact overall crop yields this summer.