Farmer sentiment was notably lower in August thanks to rising interest rates and concerns over high input prices.
According to the Ag Economy Barometer, a monthly telephone survey that gathers information from 400 U.S. agricultural producers, over half of those surveyed expect interest rates to rise in the next year.
Thirty-four percent of producers said that high input costs, meaning things like diesel fuel and fertilizer, are also a top concern for their farming operations.
Only one in five producers chose declining commodity prices as a top concern. Crop prices weakened significantly over the summer due to decreased demand.
Producers remain cautiously optimistic about farmland values; 39 percent of respondents said they expect farmland values to rise over the next year and 63 percent expect values to rise over the next five years.
Corn and soybean growers were also asked about the types of conversations they had with carbon capture contractors. Six percent of growers said they have engaged in discussions with companies about receiving payments to capture carbon on their farms, while just 2 percent said they had signed a carbon contract.
Nearly half of the farms who discussed contract terms with a company said they were offered a payment rate of $10 to $20 per metric ton of carbon captured. Half of those who did not sign a contract said it was because the payment level was too low.
