DTN/The Progressive Farmer Survey Shows a New Hope

Farmers have put a tremendous amount of hope into the new presidential administration, one that built its candidacy on throwing out the political party which had "Hope" as a central theme.  That's really the only way to interpret the results of the latest DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agricultural Confidence Index, based on responses from 500 farmers from across the United States. Answers farmers gave to an early December survey produced an Ag Confidence Index of 98, up considerably from the 72 rating in August, and up from the 75.1 rating farmers set in December 2015. The DTN/PF index centers on a baseline of 100. Confidence levels above 100 indicate optimism, the higher the number, the greater the optimism. Indexes below 100, which has been the case since March 2014, indicate farmers are pessimistic about their condition. The movement back to neutral is interesting in itself. But it's the numbers behind that index that tell a story unprecedented in the history of the Ag Confidence Index.