March Ag Economy Barometer Moved Lower

The Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer dipped last month. The reading of 113 in March, was the weakest farmer sentiment reading since May 2020, which was in the early days of the pandemic. The March reading was 12 points lower than a month earlier and 36% lower than in March 2021. Compared to a year earlier, producers' appraisal of current conditions was down 44%, while their expectations for the future fell 31%.

Producers continue to say that they expect their farm's financial performance to decline in 2022 compared to 2021. The biggest concern among producers for their farming operation this year continues to be higher input costs. The war in Ukraine exacerbated producers' worries about production costs, with nearly two-thirds of farmers expecting the biggest impact on U.S. agriculture from the war to be on input prices.

Each month, the barometer is calculated from 400 U.S. agricultural producers' responses to a telephone survey.

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