Bleak Outlook
Ag Producer, Agribusiness Confidence Reach New Lows
Low Prices, Uncertain Income and High Costs Leading Causes.
DTN Markets Editor Katie Micik: "When it comes to expectations on the part of farmers would it be fair to say bleak? I think bleak would be a good word for it, I would say that farmers have sort of settled in. They expect this down trend to remain in place for at least the next year. Most of the farmers I have talked to think it could go two or three years just given the current supply and demand fundamentals that are out there in the marketplace right now. Help me out. World population is exploding. We all need to eat. Shouldn't that fit into a farmer's wheelhouse? What I think has happened is that that trend came to light about a decade ago. Other farmers around the world took notice when prices got really high we saw grain expand into areas that had not been used for crops prior to that. We have seen arable land in Brazil get farmed and it is expected to get even bigger, we saw the Ukraine come back into the picture. We have started to see increased competition from everybody else around the globe that grows grain. Corn started getting picked up in areas where it has not been grown before. So there are more farmers all around the world trying to get a piece of this ever-growing pie."
