Rural Main St Index Falls Into Negative Numbers in September

Mid-western Creighton University publishes a monthly rural main street index designated to give a reading on the overall farm/rural economy. In September the index fell into negative territory as CliftonAllenLarson Principle and Farm CPA Today blogger Paul Neiffer shares

Neiffer: "It's essential an index of how the 10 states that surround Nebraska — because Creighton is in Omaha — how their rural economy is doing. It is comprised of farm pricing, equipment purchasing and some other economic indicators. A ranking of 50 is revenue neutral - so to speak — it doesn't mean you are in a recession it doesn't mean you are growing - just means you are flatlining. Approximately two years ago the rating were up in the 70s and the 80s it was a pretty high rating. Two months ago in August it actually hit 50. Then this last month in September is the first time — least I can remember in the last several years where the index has actually dropped into the negative territory at 49. I think it will be interesting to see where the index ends up at. I think as I said in my post about it — a lot of times when we start highlighting these indexes where they fall into the negative territories that is the bottom. I'm not saying that is what it is — but a lot of times that is what happens."