Farmers Moods Down
Outlook Bleak for Ag Producers, Agribusinesses.
Low Prices, High Costs Leading Causes for Historic Confidence Index Lows
Farm sector profitability is forecast to decline for the second straight year. Net cash farm income is forecast at $93 billion, down about 28 percent from 2014 levels. Net farm income is forecast to be $55.9 billion in 2015, down about 38 percent from 2014’s estimate of $90.4 billion. DTN Markets Editor Katie Micik, who happens to be director of the confidence index:
“Concerns over their current financial situation and expectations for the future have pushed crop and livestock producers’ confidence to an all-time low in the history of DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agriculture Confidence Index (ACI). This isn't exactly news in the traditional sense. Farmers have been struggling with the current economics now for at least a year if not longer. One of the interesting things about our survey are some of the underlying data saying that concerns about input prices and income are pretty pessimistic right now
