CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US – For the second straight month, US agricultural producers taking part in the Ag Economy Barometer survey, conducted Sept. 11-15, expressed concerns about current economic conditions and future expectations.

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer index fell 9 points to a reading of 106 in September. The Current Conditions and Future Expectations Indices both declined 10 points to a reading of 98 and 109, respectively. Notably, all three indices stand below their readings from one year ago.

"Weakening prices for major crops and ongoing concerns about high production costs and interest rates weighed on producers' minds this month," said James Mintert, the barometer's principal investigator and director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture.

Mintert said weakening prices for major crops and ongoing concerns about high production costs and interest rates weighed on producers’ minds in the most recent survey. Producers continue to point to high input costs as a top concern for their farming operations in the year ahead. One-third of respondents in this month’s survey cited it as their number one concern, followed by rising interest rates, chosen by 25% of respondents, and lower crop and/or livestock prices, chosen by 22% of farmers. The percentage of producers choosing lower crop and/or livestock prices has increased since the beginning of the year, when just 16% of producers cited it as a top concern.

There was a small uptick in the Farm Capital Investment Index, up 2-points to a reading of 39 in September, but three-fourths of the producers still said now is a bad time for large investments. The primary reasons among those who feel now is a bad time for large investments are rising interest rates and the high cost of machinery and new construction. Notably, 40% of producers who feel it’s a bad time to invest cited rising interest rates as a key reason, up from 35% last month, and up from 14% when this question was first posed in July 2022.

The Farm Financial Performance Index was unchanged in September compared to August, leaving the index at a reading of 86. Producers remain relatively optimistic about farmland values, which Mintert said is surprising given the percentage of respondents who expressed concerns about high input costs, rising interest rates, and the risk of lower crop and livestock prices.

The September survey included several questions posed to corn and soybean growers to learn more about their perspective on cover crops. Just over half (52%) of the corn/soybean growers said they currently plant cover crops on a portion of their acreage and, from this group, nearly half (47%) said they used cover crops on no more than 25% of their acreage.

Among those corn and soybean growers who reported having used cover crops, 41% of respondents said they had used cover crops for 5 years or less, while 14% said they’ve been using cover crops for more than 20 years. Respondents who use cover crops cited improvements to soil health and erosion control as their primary reasons. Farmers who tried planting cover crops, but ultimately chose to discontinue their use, cited low profitability, lowered crop yields, insufficient soil benefits, and a lack of resources to plant cover crops.