Rural Mainstreet Index Moves Lower Last Month

Rural Mainstreet Index Moves Lower Last Month

The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index last month slumped according to the monthly survey of bank CEO in rural areas of 10-state region dependent on ag and energy.
CliftonAllenLarson Partner and Farm CPA Today blogger Paul Neiffer shares more about the results of last month’s index.
Neiffer: “The index goes from zero and 100, with 50 being neutral. Anything above 50 means there is growth and anything below 50 means that it is in recession or negative territory. It dropped from 51 to about 47. The interesting thing is that of the 10 states that they polled that was only one state that was above 50 and that was North Dakota. And I think that is primarily related to the oil and gas in is still in that state. If prices remain low, you may see that come down. Every other state was in the 45 to 50 range. It is something that we have suspected now for quite a while but it just reinforces the belief that farmers are definitely looking at lower prices this year.
In the survey, bankers were asked to estimate the 2015 change in farm equipment sales for their geographic area. On average, a 14.4 percent decline in equipment sales is expected by the bank CEOs.  Approximately 60 percent of the bankers expect reductions of more than 15 percent.

 

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