Saturday, February 5, 2022

Farmers' mood declined

Farmers are bracing for a tougher year, according to a monthly survey conducted by Purdue University in Indiana.


Measured by their barometer, their outlook declined by six points to 119, the second-lowest since July, 2020.


"Rising farm input costs and ongoing supply chain disruptions appear to be contributing to producers' weaker perception of current conditions and expectations of their farm's financial performance in 2022 when compared to last year," said James Mintert, the barometer's principal investigator and director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture.


The Farm Financial Performance Index fell sharply in January to a reading of 83, a 30 per cent decline from a year ago and 27 per cent below December.


The financial index is measures whether the 400 farmers surveyed expect their financial performance to go up or down.