For the 11th straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index sank below growth neutral. The region’s overall reading for July sank to 41.3, its lowest reading since November 2023, and down from 41.7 in June. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral. According to Creighton University Economist Ernie Goss, weak agriculture commodity prices, sinking agriculture equipment sales and declining farm exports pushed the overall reading below growth neutral for the 11th straight month.
The Kansas RMI for July declined to 34.4 from June’s 34.6. The state’s farmland price index increased to 49.1 from 47.1 in June. The new hiring index for Kansas increased to 46.3 from 44.3 in June. According to trade data from the International Trade Association, exports of agriculture goods and livestock for 2024 year-to-date were up by one million dollars, or 2 tenths of a percent from the same period in 2023.
