U.S. farmer sentiment rose in July boosted by a mid-month commodity rally in corn and soybean prices, but 46% of farmers stated input prices were their top concern, according to the July edition of the Ag Economy Barometer report from Purdue University and CME Group.
Purdue University and CME surveyed 405 farmers across the U.S. from July 13-17, 2026, for their views on the state of the ag economy. Overall, farmer sentiment rose to 126 points in July from 113 in June, following three months of declines.
Additionally, farmers were more optimistic about future expectations compared to current conditions. Nearly a quarter (23%) of farmers were expecting their farms to be better off financially a year from now, while 24% expect their operations to be worse off.
The farmer index of current condition rose to 122 in July, while the index of future expectation hit 129, Purdue reported. Additionally, the farm capital investment index rose to 50, the highest point since March.
Nearly a third of farmers (30.1%) said that crop or livestock prices were their top challenge in the next five-10 years, compared to 16.8% and 16% who said farm transition and cost controls, respectively. Farmers were less worried about trade and government programs, with 7.2% and 3.2% citing them as their top concerns, respectively.
Most farmers (56%) expected new foreign markets to open over the next five years, while 42% said agricultural exports would increase over the next five years, compared to 13% who said that they would decline.
“Stronger crop prices during the survey period likely contributed to the improvement we observed in both farmer sentiment and the farm capital investment index. At the same time, producers continue to wrestle with high input costs and uncertainty about future crop and livestock prices. The strong interest in marketing education reflects the need for strategies to help producers navigate an increasingly uncertain pricing environment,” said Michael Langemeier, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture in a press release.
Farmers face familiar challenges for next year
Despite a sentiment uptick, U.S. farmers continue to navigate a number of challenges as they head into this year’s harvest and into the planning season for the 2026/27 marketing year.
Crop input prices are expected to rise in 2027 due to a confluence of trade and geopolitical factors, RaboResearch’s North American Head of Crops, Stephen Nicholson, told AgNavigator in an article.
Since the start of the Iran war, nitrogen prices have improved but phosphate production concerns are growing over concerns of sulfuric acid shortages, a key pre-cursor to fertilizer production, Nicholson explained. The Middle East accounts for about 24% of global production of sulfur.
Additionally, the Trump administration is re-engaging its trade war with large parts of the world. On July 23, the Trump administration levied 10-12.5% additional tariffs on 60 trading partners, claiming that “these nations fail to properly stop imports made with forced labor,” the Office of the United States Trade Representative shared in a press release.
