WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and
CHICAGO, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmer
sentiment hit a post pandemic high in September, according to the
Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy
Barometer. The index rose to a reading of 156, up 12 points from
August and up 60 points from its 2020 low in April. The Current
Conditions Index also saw an uptick, jumping 18 points to a
reading of 142 in September, and the Future Expectations
Index rose 9 points to a reading of 163. The Ag Economy
Barometer is based on survey responses from 400 U.S.
agricultural producers and was conducted between September 21-25, 2020.
This past month marked key changes in the agricultural economy.
On September 18, USDA announced a
second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2)
payments for U.S. agricultural producers and fall-harvested crop
prices continued to strengthen considerably since late summer.
"In September, producers were more optimistic about both current
conditions and the future for agriculture than they've been since
the pandemic began," said James
Mintert, the barometer's principal investigator and director
of Purdue University's Center for
Commercial Agriculture. "A continued crop price rally and the
announcement of USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2)
payments appear to be fueling much of their optimism."
However, that optimism did not completely carry over into
perspectives toward the future of U.S. agriculture's trade
prospects. In September, 58 percent of respondents said they expect
agriculture exports to increase over the next 5 years, down from 67
percent who felt that way in August. The shift was primarily due to
more producers indicating they expect exports to remain about the
same in the future, rather than increase. In a related question,
producers were asked whether they expect China to fulfill the food and agricultural
import requirements established in the Phase One trade agreement
signed earlier this year. Farmers' opinions were split, with less
than half (47%) of respondents indicating they expect China to fulfill its commitment to import food
and ag products from the U.S.
Given its increased attention in recent years, this month,
producers were asked several questions about their intentions to
use fall cover crops. Nearly 4 out of 10 corn/soybean producers in
the September survey said they intend to plant at least some cover
crops in fall 2020. As for their acreage intentions, over half
(52%) said that they planned to plant cover crops on one-third or
less of their corn/soybean acreage, 21% said they intend to plant
between one-third to as much as two-thirds, and 27% intend to plant
cover crops on more than two-thirds. Farmers who intend to plant
cover crops this fall overwhelmingly (79%) said their primary
reason for doing so was to improve soil health and crop yields,
while just 1% of respondents said it was because of the
availability of cost-share funds.
With many educational events and programs transitioning to
online delivery, this month farmers were asked whether they have
attended an online program and, if so, what aspects they liked and
disliked. Twenty-two percent of respondents to the September survey
said they attended an online educational program or field day this
year. Respondents said they liked the flexible timing of attending
and viewing the programs (27%) and the ability to choose topics of
interest (21%). However, respondents overwhelmingly pointed to the
lack of interaction with other attendees (40%), poor broadband
connection (18%), and difficulty in asking questions (17%) as the
top reasons they disliked these programs.
Read the full Ag Economy Barometer report at
https://purdue.ag/agbarometer. This month's report includes insight
into farmers' intentions towards making large investments in their
farming operations in the coming year. The site also offers
additional resources – such as past reports, charts and survey
methodology – and a form to sign up for monthly barometer email
updates and webinars.
Each month, the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture
provides a short video analysis of the barometer results, available
at https://purdue.ag/barometervideo, and for even more
information, check out the Purdue Commercial
AgCast podcast. It includes a detailed breakdown of each
month's barometer, in addition to a discussion of recent
agricultural news that impacts farmers. Available now
at https://purdue.ag/agcast.
The Ag Economy Barometer, Index of Current Conditions and Index
of Future Expectations are available on the Bloomberg Terminal
under the following ticker symbols: AGECBARO, AGECCURC and
AGECFTEX.
About the Purdue University Center
for Commercial Agriculture
The Center for Commercial Agriculture was founded in 2011 to
provide professional development and educational programs for
farmers. Housed within Purdue
University's Department of Agricultural Economics, the
center's faculty and staff develop and execute research and
educational programs that address the different needs of managing
in today's business environment.
About CME Group
As the world's leading and most
diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com)
enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets,
optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market
participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture
opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global
benchmark products across all major asset classes based
on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign
exchange, energy, agricultural
products and metals. The company offers futures and
options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed
income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the
EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading
central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. With a range
of pre- and post-trade products and services underpinning the
entire lifecycle of a trade, CME Group also offers optimization and
reconciliation services through TriOptima, and trade processing
services through Traiana.
CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange,
Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board
of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York
Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York
Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity
Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec, EBS, TriOptima, and Traiana are
trademarks of BrokerTec Europe LTD, EBS Group LTD, TriOptima AB,
and Traiana, Inc., respectively. Dow Jones, Dow Jones
Industrial Average, S&P 500, and S&P are service and/or
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of their respective owners.
Writer: Kami Goodwin,
765-494-6999, kami@purdue.edu
Source: James Mintert,
765-494-7004, jmintert@purdue.edu
Related websites:
Purdue University Center for
Commercial Agriculture: http://purdue.edu/commercialag
CME Group: http://www.cmegroup.com/
Photo Caption: Ag Barometer rises as crop prices rally and USDA
announces CFAP 2 (Purdue/CME Group
Ag Economy Barometer/James
Mintert)
A publication-quality photo is available at
https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/2020/barometer-septemberLO.jpg.
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SOURCE CME Group