Farmers’ inflation fears fade
Seven out of 10 farmers expect a U.S. inflation rate below 4 percent this year, a sharp turn in sentiment from the start of 2023, when half of producers expected inflation to exceed 6 percent, said a Purdue University poll released on Tuesday. The most recent Consumer Price Index report pegged inflation at 3.1 percent.
One fourth of corn and soy growers alter practices due to weather shifts
A minority of corn and soybean growers—one in four—say they altered their operations directly because of long-term changes in weather patterns, said a Purdue University poll on Tuesday. The most common changes were use of no-till planting, a shift in the mix of crops, and increased use of drought-resistant varieties, according to the Ag Economy Barometer.
Whatever you call it, cultivated meat trails beef in consumers’ estimation
Americans declare beef is better than its plant-based or lab-grown alternatives from almost any standpoint, from taste to nutrition and environmental impact, said a Purdue University report on Wednesday. Consumers gave slightly higher scores to "lab-grown meat" as opposed to "cell-cultured meat," although it is the same thing.
More farmers expect slowdown in ag exports
Operators of large farms are losing faith in exports as an ever-growing market for U.S. crops and livestock, said a Purdue poll released on Tuesday. Only one-third of farmers surveyed for the monthly Ag Economy Barometer said they expected agricultural exports to increase over the next five years, down from 72 percent in 2020.
Carbon contracts don’t pay enough, large-farm survey finds
Comparatively few farmers are actively considering a carbon contract and the vast majority of them want a higher payment per acre than was being offered, said the monthly Ag Economy Barometer on Tuesday. Growers commonly said they were offered $10-$30 for each tonne of carbon sequestered through farming practices, a fraction of what they desire.
After year-end surge, farmers’ financial confidence wavers
Strong harvest-time commodity prices pushed farmer confidence to its highest level in 16 months, said a Purdue University poll of large operators released on Tuesday. The abrupt 24-point climb in the Ag Economy Barometer "was motivated by producers' stronger perception of current financial conditions on their farms," said agricultural economists James Mintert and Michael Langemeier.
Interest rates are the top policy concern among farmers
Congress is on the cusp of overhauling the farm program but the top question among farmers about government action is interest rate policy, which lies outside the jurisdiction of the Senate and House Agriculture committees, said a Purdue University poll on Tuesday. Concern about interest rates coincided with the Federal Reserve campaign to squelch inflation through regular increases in interest rates.
More farmers plant cover crops for higher yields and soil health
America's biggest farmers are unchanging skeptics of climate change but they slowly are adopting cover crops, mostly to improve crop yields and soil health, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Only one in 20 growers say they planted the soil- and water-holding crops for carbon sequestration.
Farmer confidence is second-lowest in nearly six years
Seven out of every 10 large-scale farmers and ranchers expect high inflation to persist into 2023 and 51 percent anticipate their operations will be worse off financially next summer than they are now, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Its Ag Economy Barometer, a monthly gauge of farmer confidence, fell to its second-lowest level since October 2016.
High commodity prices lure double-crop farmers — Survey
Nearly three of every 10 farmers with experience producing wheat and soybeans in one growing season say they will sow more winter wheat this fall, said a Purdue University poll on Tuesday. The practice, known as double-cropping wheat and soybeans, would mean larger wheat production in the United States and would help buffer the disruption in world food supplies created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Farmers, hit by supply chain delays, expect higher input costs
Supply-chain disruptions "haunt the nation's agricultural sector," with four of every 10 large-scale farmers and ranchers reporting difficulties in buying inputs ranging from fertilizer to farm equipment parts, according to a Purdue University survey released on Tuesday. Operators also increasingly expect to pay dearly for the goods.
More farmers worry about large increases in input costs
More than half of America's big farmers expect prices for inputs such as fertilizer and fuel to soar by more than 12 percent in the coming year, a sign of inflation fears felt across the economy, said a poll released by Purdue University on Tuesday. The latest government report pegged inflation at 6.2 percent, the highest in three decades.
Big farmers aren’t warming to carbon capture contracts — survey
Despite publicity about carbon sequestration as a potential source of revenue, only a handful of America's largest farmers and ranchers are pursuing carbon contracts, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Less than 1 percent of large-scale operators polled for the monthly Ag Economy Barometer said they had discussed carbon contracts with any company, compared to 2 percent in Purdue surveys earlier this year.
More farmers experiment with cover crops, a climate tool, survey shows
Slightly more than half of the country's biggest farmers say they planted cover crops this year, indicating a broadening acceptance of the crops' benefits for soil health and the accompanying complication they bring to land management, said Purdue's Ag Economy Barometer on Tuesday. Cover crops received prominent attention this year as a potential way to earn money from a carbon contract while mitigating climate change on the farm.
Euphoria fades as farmers fret over inflation, rising costs
America’s large-scale farmers and ranchers expect rampant inflation and sharply higher costs in the year ahead, said a Purdue University poll on Tuesday. The monthly Ag Economy Barometer said farmer confidence was at its lowest level in a year despite high commodity prices and large federal …
Farmer sentiment rose with China trade deal
Farmer sentiment jumped to the highest level of the Trump presidency, with a nationwide survey finding farmers upbeat about the prospects for exports following the Phase I trade deal with China, according to the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer released Tuesday. The Ag Economy Barometer …
Farmers expect more Trump tariff payments in 2020
Although farmers and ranchers overwhelmingly believe they will emerge as winners from the Sino-U.S. trade war, they also expect the Trump administration will send them billions of dollars in trade-war payments on 2020 crops yet to be planted, according to a Purdue University poll released Tuesday.
‘Trump bump’ melts as farmer optimism wanes
Farmers are increasingly pessimistic about financial conditions in coming months, with Purdue’s Ag Economy Barometer dropping by nearly 18 percent since last January.
Farmers optimistic at planting time though dubious about crop prices
Purdue’s monthly survey of producers reported a small uptick in farmer confidence with the arrival of the spring planting season despite an undercurrent of pessimism about what corn and soybean prices will be at harvest time.