Breaking point: Rising costs grip ag economy

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Farmer sentiment has taken a noticeable step backward, but it is not simply that farmers have become more pessimistic about the future.There is a growing concern about the economics of operating the farm right now. And input costs are playing a huge role in that angst.The Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell 12 points, from 135 in August to 123 in September.The Index of Current Conditions fell 18 points — a very large drop for that index, compared with a 9-point decline in the Index of Future Expectations.“That tells us something very important: Farmers’ assessment of their current situation deteriorated considerably more than their expectations for the future. And when we look at what’s driving that, input costs really stand out,” said Michael Langemeier, agricultural economics professor and director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue.A record 52% of respondents said higher input costs were their biggest concern, and 54% said hig