News
Farmer outlook for livestock declines sharply
Ag Economist Jim Mintert says the outlook for the livestock sector has taken a nosedive, according to the latestPurdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.
“I think what that survey is picking up is some of the concerns people have about what’s going on in the beef sector,” he says. “There’s been a lot of controversy about pricing in the beef sector, we have some major meetings coming up to talk more about pricing, especially in the fed cattle sector. I think the survey is picking up some of that and reflecting that with respect to that expectation for perhaps not such great times in the next five years.”
Twenty-six percent of producers expect widespread good times for the livestock sector.
Mintert, director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, tells Brownfield it’s important to note that although survey respondents represent beef, pork, and dairy sectors, there are relatively more beef producers surveyed.
Despite a more pessimistic outlook for livestock, more than half of farmers surveyed expect widespread good times for the crops sector in the next five years.
The ag economy barometer is a monthly national survey of 400 U.S. ag producers. Fifty-three percent of farmers surveyed grow corn or soybeans, 19 percent raise beef, 14 percent grow wheat, six percent raise hogs, five percent are dairy farmers, and three percent grow cotton.
