Ag Economy Barometer Dips, Still Above 2024 Levels

In the CME Group/Purdue University Ag Economy Barometer for June, farmer sentiment took a slight dip. “There was a decline, but it wasn’t a huge one,” said Purdue University Director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture Jim Mintert. “The index fell to 146 this month. A month ago, it was at 158, but viewed from a longer-term perspective, that’s still substantially higher than it was this time last year, when the index stood at 105 so producers are still more optimistic than they were a year ago.” Following five years of lowered confidence, Mintert thinks there might be a shift in producer expectations of ag exports. “Historically, ag exports have been a tremendous engine of growth in the US ag economy. In May, we saw a dramatic rise in confidence, with over half the people in the survey telling us they thought exports would grow over the next five years, and that was a pretty big shift.”