Farmer sentiment plunged in April as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell 15 points (13.2%) to a reading of 99, which was 24 points (19.5%) below last year. The barometer’s sub-indices both declined from a month earlier, with the Current Condition Index down 18 points and the Future Expectations Index down 14 points. This was the weakest farmer sentiment reading since June 2022 and the lowest current conditions rating since May 2020. Concerns about their farms’ current financial situation and expectations for weak financial performance in the year ahead were the driving forces behind the fall-off in farmer sentiment.
Farmers said they expect weaker financial performance compared to a year earlier, even though fewer farmers look for interest rates to rise than just a month earlier. Weaker sentiment also translated into a less optimistic view of farmland values as fewer farmers said they looked for farmland values to rise over the next 12 months. One factor that could be providing support for farmland values in some locales is energy production. Nineteen percent of respondents to this month’s survey reported discussing leasing farmland for solar energy production with a company, and 8% of farmers who look for farmland values to rise in the upcoming year pointed to energy production on farmland as a supporting factor.
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