A post-election surge in producer optimism pushed the Ag Economy Barometer to a record high for the second consecutive month, says Purdue University, which conducts a survey of farmers and produces the monthly report. “The biggest contributor to the large uptick in optimism since October has been producers’ increasingly favorable expectations about the future,” said James Mintert, director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.
Besides an improvement in soybean, cattle and hog prices recently, the survey of 400 farmers found they expect an improved regulatory environment. Some 41 percent said they expect regulations affecting agriculture will be less restrictive in the future while 29 percent said they expected regulations to become more restrictive.
The barometer began its rise in November. It zoomed to 132 points in December, the highest since the gauge was launched in October 2015 and skyrocketed to 153 in January. The barometer stood at 92 in October, before Donald Trump was elected president, and rose to 116 during November.