After rising over the last two months, farmer sentiment dropped in April as higher input costs weighed on net income and break-even prices for corn, according to the Ag Economy Barometer from Purdue University and CME Group.
Each month, Purdue University and CME Group survey 400 farmers about their attitudes on the farm economy. The April report asked farmers about how the Iran war was impacting their operations.
The Ag Economy Barometer Index — a measure of farmer sentiment — declined from 127 in March to 121 in April, the report stated. Nearly half of farmers (46%) listed high input costs as their primary concern, while 14% cited input availability as their top concern.
More than half of farmers (53.5%) said that the Iran war will have a negative impact on their business, while 12.0% said that the conflict will have a very negative impact. Less than 14% of farmers said that conflict would have a positive or very positive impact.
Farmers are now expecting corn breakeven prices to rise, with 36.7% of growers expecting prices to increase by 10% or more and 29.3% anticipating a 0-3% increase. Additionally, 19.7% of farmers expect breakeven corn prices to rise by 3-6%, while 14.3% believe that they will rise 6-9%.
As input prices rise, farmers are less likely to make capital investments, with the farm capital investment index falling from 53 in March to 44 in April, marking the lowest index since October 2024. Additionally, only 15% of farmers said their operations were better in April this year than last year.
Amid challenges in the ag economy, farmers are starting to say that the U.S. is on the wrong track. Almost half (43%) of growers said that the country is on the wrong track — the highest point in the last 10 months.
“Producers are still under pressure from high input costs, and this month we observed a slight rise in concerns about fertilizer availability. Simultaneously, the impact of current events on fertilizer and energy markets increases global uncertainty, adding to the existing difficulties farmers face as they plan for the future,” said Michael Langemeier, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.
