Statewide, Iowa (RI) – A monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of Iowa and other Midwest states indicates the region’s economy has dipped to its lowest level since May of 2020.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss conducts the survey and issues a Mid-America Mainstreet Index each month.
Goss says a firm majority of the bankers indicated President Trump’s approach to trade with China is about right, but nearly 85 percent of the bankers surveyed support emergency federal payments to farmers due to the financial hit of trade losses.
Goss added there may be one bright spot in the survey, about farm loans.
Goss says farm equipment sales have dropped for 26-straight months. That’s a hit to Iowa where Deere and Company has been laying off workers and scaling back production. Goss says due to rising costs for fertilizer and other expenses, there’s been an increase in the amount farmers are borrowing.
Goss concluded by saying the value of farmland is holding up much better than farm income. Goss added the rural bankers surveyed expect farmland prices to decline by three to four percent in the next 12 months.
