Rural Mainstreet Index: Farmers aren’t confident about the future of the industry

The latest Rural Mainstreet Index shows a dire situation unfolding. It fell below growth neutral for the 17th time in 18 months, and Creighton University economists say trade is the leading factor.

A global economic slowdown certainly is not helping out there, and certainly an supply over, I would argue, an oversupply from some of our competitors, such as Brazil and Argentina, pushing, pushing down, prices are holding, holding them down. I should say prices have improved a bit over the last month or two, but still not in a territory that makes the farmer feel good about what that farmer is making,” said Dr. Ernie Goss.

Dr. Goss says other countries are paying attention to our recent tariff action and adds any potential retaliation is likely to hurt U.S. farmers.

Related Stories
The USDA is purchasing rice grown in the U.S. to distribute to food assistance programs and food banks.
From the earliest times, mankind strove to solve the problem of basic day-to-day survival by establishing a steady supply of food.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

In today’s Performance Through Partnership feature, brought to you by Golden Harvest, we meet farmer Kevin Siffring of Surprise, Nebraska.
Chris Weaver, a sixth generation farmer in Finksburg, Maryland, talks about his successful relationship with his partners on the Golden Harvest Agronomy Team for his soybean and corn operation.