Purdue University released its Ag Economy Barometer today; the barometer is a joint project with the CME Group and is based on a monthly survey of 400 producers. The March Barometer dropped 8 points to an index level of 117. It was 113 for March 2022, which was the lowest since May 2020 at 103 during the COVID pandemic.  

The Ag Economy Barometer index value for a given month is always relative to the base period of October 2015 to March 2016. A Barometer value of 100 implies no change from the base period. A value greater than 100 indicates an increase in producers’ sentiment compared to the base period, whereas a value below 100 indicates producers’ sentiment declined relative to the base period. The drop in the...