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Survey: farmers are slightly less optimistic about farmland values
Growers are slightly less optimistic about farmland values, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.
Jim Minert is the director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture.
“People are not quite as optimistic about farmland values going forward as they were earlier,” he says. “Conversely, they’re not telling us farmland prices are going to go down. They’re not negative about farmland prices. They’re just not convinced maybe to the extent they were earlier that farmland prices are going to continue to rise at the rate they’ve been rising.”
The Short-Term Farmland Value Expectation Index held steady, while the Long-Term Farmland Value Expectation Index dropped eight points to 146.
He tells Brownfield producers are less bullish about farmland values than they were last fall, when looking at the three-month moving averages for short- and long-term farmland values.
“They’re starting to take into account how farm farmland values have come in just the last year to 18 months or so,” he says. “And, they’re starting to ask the question of given the rise that we’ve already seen in farmland values, how much more additional strength can we expect to see.”
The Ag Economy Barometer is a monthly national survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers.
Audio: Jim Mintert