News

Barometer: Farmers more optimistic about trade with China

Farmers became more optimistic about trade with China in the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Purdue University’s Jim Mintert says many farmers surveyed expect China to fulfill its food and ag import requirements under the phase one agreement.  

“In September, that was kind of a toss-up and roughly 47 percent said they thought it was likely that China would fulfill its phase one trade agreement  requirements and in October that rose 59 percent,” he says.

He tells Brownfield some of the optimism about the future of agriculture is tied to trade with China.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and whether or not we see the increases in purchases (from China) that the commodity markets have been expecting since the election,” he says.

When asked about their overall perspective on US ag exports, 65 percent of farmers expect exports to rise in the next five years. That’s up from 58 percent in September.