Farmer Sentiment Falls as Input Cost Worries Hit Record High
A Purdue/CME Group survey shows 52% of farmers cite input costs as top concern, driving a sharp drop in current conditions.
Agricultural confidence declined sharply in September, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer survey, as rising input costs weighed heavily on farm operators across the country. More than half of respondents — 52% — identified higher input costs as their primary concern, a figure that represents a new record high in the survey's history.
The deteriorating outlook was further reflected in the Index of Current Conditions, which fell 18 points during the month. That steep decline signals that farmers are feeling the strain of present economic pressures, not merely anticipating future headwinds, suggesting conditions on the ground have worsened meaningfully.
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Input costs — which encompass fuel, fertilizer, seed, and equipment — have been a persistent burden for agricultural producers navigating an already volatile commodity market environment. When a majority of surveyed farmers elevate that single issue above all others, it typically indicates that profit margins are being squeezed across a broad cross-section of the industry.
The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer is a monthly benchmark of U.S. farmer sentiment drawn from a national sample of agricultural producers. Analysts and policymakers closely follow the index as an early indicator of farm-sector stress that can ripple into rural economies and agricultural supply chains more broadly.
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