Northwest Iowa — A new survey of rural bankers suggests the regional ag economy is improving. The “Rural Mainstreet Index” hit a 2-year high this month.
Economist Ernie Goss conducts the monthly survey, and says lender confidence levels on the rural economy inched into positive territory for the first time since August, 2015. Goss say that while farmland prices, and ag equipment sales were still negative, they moved in a positive direction.
He says survey participants indicated that, over the next five years, rising regulatory costs will be their top challenge. The number of rural bankers reporting farm foreclosures was the biggest risk doubled to one in ten, but Goss says it would take even lower commodity prices for that to be a major concern.
Nearly 90 percent of bankers said low commodity prices were the biggest threat to the rural economy, slightly less than last year.
