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Farmer sentiment rebounded because of ’22 income

Producer sentiment rebounded at the end of 2022 because of stronger farm income, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Jim Mintert is the director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture.  

“I think a lot of farmers really assessed what kind of year they had in 2022 and in looking at their own records and doing some tax planning, they recognized that in reality, especially here in the Corn Belt farm income was very good,” he says. “Net Farm income, according to USDA, was one of the strongest years we’ve seen since the early 1970s and that’s consistent with our own estimates as well and I think that really explains a lot of the improvement we saw.”

The overall Ag Economy Barometer rose 24 points to a reading of 126. The Current Conditions Index was 135, 37 points higher than in November while the Future Expectations Index was up 18 points to 122.

He tells Brownfield farmers were more optimistic after largely being focused on the cost of inputs.  

“The contrast there is earlier in the year there’s tendency to focus on cost because you’re continually writing checks and paying bills for inputs that were at record high prices,” he says. “That creates some concern with respect to how high costs have increased; perhaps forgetting how strong the income levels were.”

The monthly national survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers was conducted Dec. 5-9.

Audio: Jim Mintert