WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and
CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Agricultural
producer sentiment about the industry's economy improved
substantially in November, in part because of soybean and corn
futures price rallies, according to the December 6 report of the Purdue/CME Group Ag
Economy Barometer.
The barometer, which is based on a monthly survey of 400 U.S.
agricultural producers, jumped to 116—the highest reading since
October 2015, and up 24 points from
the October 2016 reading of 92.
The shift was largely driven by the Index of Future
Expectations, one of the barometer's components, which climbed to
130 in November, up from 95 in October. The Index of Current
conditions increased only slightly, from 85 in October to 87 in
November.
"Producer sentiment about the future climbed partly because of a
significant rally in futures prices for corn and especially
soybeans this fall," said Jim Mintert, barometer principal
investigator and director of Purdue's
Center for Commercial Agriculture. "The rally included not just
nearby futures contracts, but extended to prices for both the 2017
and, to a lesser extent, 2018 harvests."
Recent November 2017 soybean
futures prices were as much as 13 percent higher than August lows.
Despite record corn and soybean harvests this fall that were
expected to cause prices to decline, strong export demand and
uncertainty around the South American crop offered support in
November.
It's important to note that the jump in producer sentiment had
more to do with decreased pessimism about the future of the
agricultural economy than it did with a notable shift toward a
positive outlook, Mintert said.
Each month producers are asked about their expectations for the
agricultural economy over the next five years. The share of
respondents expecting "bad times financially" declined dramatically
from 56 percent in October to 42 percent in November. However, the
share of respondents expecting "good times financially" increased
just 2 percent in the same period, from 35 to 37 percent.
"These responses suggest that producers as a whole are not
necessarily more optimistic, but rather they are less pessimistic
about the future than earlier in the year," Mintert said. "The
shift in producer sentiment doesn't indicate a prosperous time in
agriculture as more producers continue to expect bad times than
good.
"One way to look at November's improvement is that it reveals a
slightly more optimistic outlook regarding what could still be
characterized as a difficult time for many agricultural
producers."
Read the full November report at http://purdue.edu/agbarometer.
The site offers additional resources, including past reports,
charts and survey methodology, and a form to sign up for monthly
barometer email updates and quarterly webinars.
The Ag Economy Barometer, Index of Current Conditions and Index
of Future Expectations also are available on the Bloomberg Terminal
under the following ticker symbols: AGECBARO, AGECCURC and
AGECFTEX.
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 Purdue
University's 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 and the Chicago 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.
Related website:
Purdue
University Center for Commercial Agriculture:
http://purdue.edu/commercialag
CME Group: http://www.cmegroup.com/
CME-G
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SOURCE CME Group