WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, US — For the first time since June 2025, respondents in the August Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer survey expect their operation to be better off financially rather than worse off a year from now. The improved outlook raised US farmer sentiment from 126 in July to 135 in August. While the Index of Future Expectations increased 11 points, the Index of Current Conditions rose only 1 point.

Optimism about export prospects over the next five years also improved this month, reaching 140 — the highest since December 2025. Higher input costs remained the biggest concern, according to the survey, conducted among 402 US farmers Aug. 10-14.

The Farm Financial Performance Index rose from 90 at the beginning of the year to 103 in August, indicating increased optimism among respondents about their financial outlook for the next 12 months. Despite this increase, the Farm Capital Investment Index declined by 5 points to 45.

This month’s survey featured three questions on operator skills. The first asked respondents to identify the skill with the most return on investment for their farm, with production skills the most valued at 29%, followed by financial management and analysis at 23%, and strategic planning at 22%. The second question asked which skill their farm most needed to improve, with strategic planning at 28%, selling products at 20% and buying inputs at 19%. The third question asked which skills could be improved most through artificial intelligence, with strategic planning at 32%, financial management and analysis at 28%, and production at 18%.

In August, the Short-Term Farmland Value Expectations Index rose by 8 points to 127. The survey identified alternative investments, interest rates and inflation as the top three influences on farmland values. Periodically, the survey asks respondents to evaluate farmland as an investment. For this month, 65% viewed farmland as a good investment, 17% as medium and 18% as poor.

“Producers are looking beyond the day-to-day management of their operations and thinking more strategically about the skills they need to succeed,” said Michael Langemeier, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. “The emphasis on strategic planning, both as an area for improvement and as a potential application for artificial intelligence, suggests producers see opportunities to use new tools to strengthen decision-making.”

Since July 2025, producers have been asked whether they believe the United States is moving in the “right direction” or on the “wrong track.” The average “right direction” response was 71% in the final six months of 2025 and 62% in the first quarter of 2026. In August, 51% of respondents said the United States was moving in the right direction.

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Arvin Donley is editor of World Grain. He has been at Sosland Publishing Company since 2005, covering the grain, milling and feed industries. He is a 1989 graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.

Connect with Arvin Donley on LinkedIn or via email.