Purdue University and the CME Group released its latest Ag Economy Barometer on January 6. 

Farmer sentiment weakened slightly in December as the Ag Economy Barometer Index dropped just 3 points in December to a reading of 136. 

Weakness was attributable to a modest decline in producers’ long-term outlook, as the Future Expectations Index fell to 140, 4 points below a month earlier. 

Producers’ expectations for their farms’ financial performance changed little compared to November, as the financial performance index rose just 2 points to 94

Underlying the index’s small improvement was a shift toward more producers saying they expect this year’s farm financial performance to be about the same as last year’s.

At a reading of 58, the Farm Capital Investment Index also increased 2 points compared to a month earlier. Although the investment index rose slightly in December, 60% of producers still said it was a bad time to make a large investment in their farms.

Watch the full version of this episode of On The Record