- For a fifth straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index sank below growth neutral.
- Farmland prices expanded for the month. The last time the farmland price index fell below growth neutral was November 2019.
- Higher borrowing costs, tighter credit conditions and weaker grain prices pushed the farm equipment sales index below growth neutral for the seventh time in the past eight months.
- Of those farmers transitioning in the next decade, bank CEOs expect 53.8% to transfer ownership to heirs, and 42.3% anticipate the sale to other farmers in the area.
- Economic confidence remained very weak.
OMAHA, Neb. (Jan. 18, 2024) — For a fifth straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) sank below growth neutral, according to the January survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy.
Overall: The region’s overall reading for January rose to 48.1 from 41.7 in December. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral.
“Higher interest rates, weaker agriculture commodity prices and a credit squeeze are having a significant and negative impact on Rural Mainstreet businesses and on Rural Mainstreet farmers. Jim Eckert, CEO of Anchor State Bank in Anchor, Ill. indicated that unless crop prices improve, 2024 will not be a good year for area farmers,” said Ernie Goss, PhD, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business.