By Andi Anderson
A new survey from Purdue University and CME Group has found that farmer sentiment declined in September, dropping another 9 points. This is the second consecutive month of decline, and the lowest reading since April 2020.
The survey found that farmers are concerned about both their current and future situations. Weakening prices for major crops and ongoing concerns about high production costs and interest rates are weighing on producers' minds.
Farmers continue to cite higher input costs as a top concern in the year ahead. Nearly one-third of farmers say that it's their No. 1 concern. Nearly tied for second place were rising interest rates (25%) and lower crop and/or livestock prices (22%).
Three-fourths of farmers polled said it's a bad time for large investments, pointing to the high cost of machinery and new construction along with rising interest rates.
Despite the weak sentiment reading, farmers surveyed remained relatively optimistic about farmland values as expressed by both the short and long-term farmland values indices. The Short-Term Farmland Value Expectations Index was unchanged at a reading of 126 while the long-term index rose 2 points to 153.
The survey also included several questions posed to corn and soybean growers to learn more about their perspective on cover crops. Just over half (52%) of the corn/soybean growers said they currently plant cover crops on a portion of their acreage, but of this group, nearly half (47%) said they used cover crops on no more than 25% of their acreage.
The top two reasons cited by cover crop users for planting cover crops were improving soil health and erosion control.
Farmers who tried planting cover crops and chose to discontinue their use pointed to varied reasons for dropping cover crops from their rotation, including saying it was not profitable, followed by hurts crop yields, insufficient soil benefits, and a lack of resources to plant cover crops.
The Purdue survey shows that farmers are facing a number of challenges, including weakening crop prices, rising costs, and high interest rates. This is leading to a decline in farmer sentiment. However, farmers remain relatively optimistic about farmland values and cover crops.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-artqu
Categories: Michigan, Crops