WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and
CHICAGO, May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Purdue University's Center for Commercial
Agriculture and the derivatives marketplace CME Group are
partnering to produce the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, a
monthly nationwide measure of the health of the U.S. agricultural
economy.
The introduction of this new economic indicator underscores the
importance of the agricultural economy and its participants – food
producers and agribusinesses – to the overall U.S. and global
economies, Purdue and CME Group said Tuesday (May 3) in announcing the partnership.
"Agriculture is a critical component of the global economy and
has been the cornerstone of CME Group's business for nearly 170
years," said CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry
Duffy. "By providing financial tools to help producers and
agribusiness participants manage the risks they face, they are
better able to focus on what they do best – feeding the world. We
believe this collaboration with Purdue
University to create the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy
Barometer will provide an essential resource for monitoring the
health of the food industry and vital insight into the global
economy."
"Purdue's College of Agriculture has a long tradition of pushing
us toward better food security, safety and sustainability with
their cutting-edge research," said Purdue President Mitch Daniels.
"We can imagine no better partner than CME Group to help us analyze
and report the real-time economic health of U.S. agriculture, on
which literally every citizen and the rest of the economy
depends."
Each month, the Ag Economy Barometer will provide a sense of the
agricultural economy's health with an index value. Results to
calculate the index are obtained through a survey of 400 large
agricultural producers on economic sentiment. In addition, Purdue
will bring its research and agricultural economics expertise to
measure producers' expectations of key farm economy drivers such as
farm profitability; farmland prices; capital expenditures; row
crop, livestock and dairy prices; and seasonal drivers such as
seed, fertilizer and feed ingredient prices.
The barometer provides a value for each month that is relative
to the base period, which is the winter and spring months of 2015
and 2016, explained Jim Mintert, director of Purdue's Center for
Commercial Agriculture, professor of agricultural economics and
principal investigator for the barometer. A score of 100 would mean
that the sentiment is unchanged from the base period values. Higher
than 100 means sentiment improved from that period, whereas lower
values would indicate sentiment declined.
Quarterly, the index will be accompanied by a webinar and
in-depth thought-leader survey. The 100 agricultural thought
leaders surveyed include agricultural lenders, business
professionals, academics, consultants and commodity association
representatives. This survey is separate from the results of the
producer survey but serves as a supplement to the barometer.
"The barometer is the only ongoing monthly measure of the health
of the agricultural economy," Mintert said. "Also unique is that
the index is calculated based on producer sentiments about both
current conditions and future expectations."
April survey results
The agricultural sentiment of
U.S. producers increased to 106 in April
2016, which was an improvement in producer sentiment
compared to the base period of October
2015 through March 2016. The
increase was driven in part by strengthening corn, soybean and
wheat prices. After months of trending lower, and a sharp drop in
corn prices following the USDA's March Prospective Plantings
report, crop prices moved up during April. In addition, general
weather conditions across the Plains and Midwest were favorable for
crop development and planting and likely contributed to the
improved sentiment.
"While the most recent data show an uptick in producers'
sentiment, it is important to keep the situation in perspective,"
said David Widmar, senior research associate for the Center for
Commercial Agriculture and lead researcher on the Ag Economy
Barometer. "Overall, the general agricultural outlook is still
difficult. A strong majority of respondents, from both the producer
and quarterly Agricultural Thought Leaders survey, reported
expectations of the next twelve months being 'bad times'
financially across the agricultural sector."
About the Purdue University
Center for Commercial Agriculture
The Center for Commercial
Agriculture was founded in 2011 to provide professional development
and educational programs for farmers. Housed within the Department
of Agricultural Economics, the center's faculty and staff develop
and execute research and educational programs that address the
different needs of managing in today's business environment.
About CME Group
As the world's leading and most
diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is
where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group exchanges offer the
widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset
classes, including futures and options based on interest rates,
equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and
metals. Around the world, CME Group brings buyers and sellers
together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform and
its exchanges based in Chicago,
New York and London. CME Group also operates one of the
world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME
Clearing and CME Clearing Europe, which offer clearing and
settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and
over-the-counter derivatives. CME Group's products and services
ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk
and achieve growth.
CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME,
Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT, the Chicago Board of Trade, KCBOT, KCBT and
Kansas City Board of Trade are
trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York
Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New
York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity
Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ:
CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.
CME-G
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SOURCE CME Group