The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1475797
SW District of the DAR receives several awards The SW District of The Daughters of the American Revolution had their District meeting on Saturday, August 1 in Jasper. Those in atten- dance from the Cradle of Liberty DAR Chapter were Jennifer Uppencamp, Sandy McBeth, Jeannine Houchins, Amy Smith, and Lisa Sims. The chapter received two awards through the state, three awards at a national level, Honorable Mention for the Baxter Heartworks award, third place for the dis- trict for the CA A/Master Re- port, National - CA A Level 1, National- 10 percent increase in their chapter, and Nation- al - third place Top Chapter with the largest percentage increase in CA A/Master Re- port points from 2020 -2021. The CA A/Master Report is a year-end report detailing the works of different com- mittees, activities, volunteer hours, and what the chapter has been involved in during the past year. The Regent Report was given by Jennifer Uppen- camp and focused on one ar- ea the Chapter was involved in. The focus was ceme- tery preservation and head- stone cleaning. The chapter has visited cemeteries from each township throughout the year. Beforehand, an invento- ry is made of the headstones in that cemetery. On the day of the service project, head- stones are cleaned with pho- tographs taken and another in- ventory is made. The SW District meeting was hosted by the Cradle of Liberty Chapter. Say Yes to Solar! Hoosiers have long made a living from the land, and today that includes farming the sun. Solar projects throughout Indiana bring $37 million each year to Indiana communities, plus substantial income to farmers who now include solar energy as a crop. Respecting our heritage – Building our future SUPPORT SOLAR! Sign up with Hoosiers for Renewables to learn more about how solar energy can support your community's growth: www.HoosiersForRenewables.com/pike By Kami Goodwin Purdue News Service kami@purdue.edu The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer im- proved in April, up 8 points to a read- ing of 121; however, it remains 32 % below its reading from the same time last year. Producers' perspec- tive on current conditions and fu- ture expectations saw an uptick over the past month. The Index of Cur- rent Conditions improved 7 points to a reading of 120, and the Index of Future Expectations improved 9 points to a reading of 122. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricul- tural producers' responses to a tele- phone survey. This month's survey was conducted April 18 -22. "Rising prices for major commod- ities, especially corn and soybeans, appear to be leading the change in producers' improved financial out- look," said James Mintert, the ba- rometer's principal investigator and director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture. "However, it's hard to overstate the magnitude of the cost increases pro- ducers say they are facing." The Farm Financial Performance Index improved to a reading of 95, up 8 points from March, and 12 points higher than in January and February. As Mintert suggests, much of this could be attributed to the strengthened commodity pric- es. For example, Eastern Corn Belt cash prices for corn in mid-April rose more than 10 % above their mid- March levels while bids for fall deliv- ery of 2022 crop corn climbed 20 % over the same period. Soybean pric- es rose as well. Near-term delivery prices for soybeans rose about 7% from mid-March to mid-April, while elevator bids for fall delivery of new crop soybeans climbed 5% over the one-month span. Even as commodity prices have strengthened, producers contin- ue to say higher input costs are the top concern for their farming op- eration. In April, 42 % of producers chose higher input costs as their biggest concern, which was more than twice as many who chose gov- ernment policies (21%) or lower output prices (19 %). In April, 60 % of survey respondents said they ex- pect input prices to rise by 30 % over the next 12 months. This compares to an average of 37% of respondents who said they were expecting a cost increase of this magnitude when the same question was posed in the De- cember 2021 through March 2022 surveys. When asked specifically for their expectations for 2023 crop input prices compared with prices paid for 2022 crop inputs, 36 % of respon- dents said they expect prices to rise 10 % or more and 21% of crop produc- ers said input price rises of 20 % or more are likely. The war in Ukraine has also added a new level of uncer- tainty for producers. Sixty percent of survey respondents said the big- gest impact of the war on U.S. agri- culture will be on input prices. Crop input challenges extend beyond their inflated cost to their availability. In April, 34% of produc- ers said they experienced some dif- ficulty in purchasing inputs for the 2022 crop season, up from 27% in March. In a follow-up question, pro- ducers who said they had some dif- ficulty obtaining inputs said that herbicides (30 % of respondents) were most problematic, followed closely by farm machinery parts (27%), fertilizer (26 %), and insec- ticides (17%). In a related ques- tion, 11% of crop producers said they received notice an input sup- plier would not be able to deliver one or more crop inputs they had already purchased for use in 2022. Of those, herbicide availability was the top problem reported. Despite an overall improved finan- cial performance outlook, the Farm Capital Investment Index remains at its all-time low. Supply chain prob- lems remain a key reason many pro- ducers feel now is not a good time for making large investments in their farming operations. For ex- ample, just over 40 % of producers said their farm machinery purchase plans were impacted by low machin- ery inventories. The rising cost of all inputs, including machinery, build- ings, and grain bins, is likely anoth- er factor causing producers to say now is not a good time for large in- vestments. The Ag Economy Barometer, In- dex of Current Conditions and In- dex of Future Expectations are available on the Bloomberg Termi- nal under the following ticker sym- bols: AGECBARO, AGECCURC and AGECF TEX. Producer sentiment improved by commodity prices, but inflation worries farmers Pictured above are Cradle of Liberty DAR Chapter members Jennifer Uppencamp, Sandy McBeth, Jeannine Houchins, Amy Smith and Li- sa Sims. D-6 Wednesday, August 10, 2022 The Press-Dispatch