Overall U.S. farmer outlook has improved in the latest Ag Economy Barometer reading for August. However, farmer sentiment remains much lower than a year ago at this time. Major concerns remain for most growers related to rising input costs. Of the survey respondents, more than half (53%) reported their biggest concern is over inflation, but also rising interest rates (14%) and input availability (12%). Lower output prices are also on the radar with 11% of respondents logging this concern.

Both corn and soybean prices rallied from new July lows for the year through mid-August, contributing to the bump in producer sentiment in tandem with expectations for good yields in some areas. The survey also indicated a slight rise in the number of farmers in talks with companies offering payments for sequestering carbon, but only 1% of survey respondents said they’ve signed a carbon contract. The survey interviews 40 U.S. commodity growers each month via telephone.

Read more on the farmer sentiments here.