The head of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture says farmer sentiment improved this month primarily due to improved financial expectations.
Jim Mintert tells Brownfield the Index of Current Conditions declined 2 points from February while the Index of Future Expectations increased 5 points for a reading of 114. “One of the big motivations behind that was probably the improved interest rate outlook among producers,” he says. “When we asked producers about their outlook for the US prime rates, almost half, 48% of the people in the survey said they look for the US prime rate to decline over the next 12 months.”
He says agriculture is capital intensive, and a softening of interest rates can significantly improve farmers’ economic outlook.
