Friday, July 22, 2016

Rural Mainstreet Index in heartland remains on the negative side of the ledger for 11th month

For the 11th straight month the Rural Mainstreet Index was below 50, showing an economic decline. July's number was 39.8 on a 100-point scale. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss surveyed 174 bank executives in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

"One out of five crop farmers in the region is losing money on grain sales, Goss said, and that’s causing declines in farmland prices (for the 32nd straight month), farm equipment sales and retail sales in the 10-state area," Steve Jordon reports for the Omaha World-Herald. "The bankers said they expect loan defaults, on average, to increase by 5.4 percent over the coming year, Goss said, although many of them said they expect defaults to increase by more than 10 percent. That’s largely because of commodity prices, which are down 9 percent over the past 12 months, including a 16 percent drop in livestock prices, Goss said." (Read more)

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