Ag producer sentiment rebounded in June as farmers expressed a more optimistic outlook towards the future of the ag economy. The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, based on a mid-month survey of 400 agricultural producers across the U.S., increased to a reading of 126 in June, up 25 points from May.

Increases were also seen in both of the barometer’s sub-indices. While the Index of Current Conditions only saw a modest increase, up 13 points from May to a reading of 97, the Index of Future Expectations jumped 33 points, to a reading of 141 in June.

In June, the prospect of large prevented plantings, combined with expectations for yield reductions attributable to delayed planting, pushed CME corn future prices up 28 percent and CME soybean future prices up 12 percent, both compared to their mid-May lows. Additionally, USDA announced an MFP payment on planted acres in 2019 for a large number of covered crops, including corn and soybeans.

In light of USDA’s announcement and the historic corn and soybean planting delays this spring, producers who planted corn or soybeans in 2018 were asked whether the MFP announcement affected their decision to take or not take a prevented planting payment this year. Ten percent of corn and soybean producers said the announcement did impact their prevented planting decision making and one out of five farmers within that group said they intended to plant more corn, while one out of ten farmers within that group said they intended to plant more soybeans, because of the MFP program.

One of the big question marks in the 2019 outlook is how many acres will be enrolled in Federal Crop Insurance’s prevented planting program. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of corn/soybean farmers in the survey said they intended to take prevented planting payments on some of their corn acres and of those who intend to take a prevented planting payment, just over half (51 percent) said they intend to take prevented planting on more than 15 percent of their 2019 intended corn acreage.

Lastly, farmers were slightly more optimistic regarding the possible resolution and impact of the ongoing trade dispute with China in June than they were in May. From March through May, the percentage of producers expecting a beneficial outcome to the trade dispute declined from 77 percent to 65 percent; yet, on the June survey, that percentage rose slightly to 69 percent. Farmers were also asked whether they believe the dispute will be resolved by September 1. In mid-June, 32 percent of producers expected it to be settled by early September, whereas just 20 percent expected the dispute to be settled by July 1 when this question was posed in mid-May.

Read the full June Ag Economy Barometer report.