KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri farmers are looking ahead and feeling good about how the year will unfold for their businesses.
A new survey from the Missouri Farm Bureau found 40% of respondents were more optimistic than a year ago about the future of agriculture in the state.
"I think farmers are eternal optimists," said Matt Moreland, a fourth-generation farmer in Harrisonville. "We're always, 'next year will be better, next year will be better.' And so this is the start of the next year."
About 41% of those surveyed noted no change in their outlook, which leaves less than 20% feeling more pessimistic about 2024.
Moreland is one of the optimists.
He raises cattle and plants corn, beans and even sunflowers.
"We kind of do a little bit of everything," he said.
When it comes to farm trends, they've seen everything.
"We're used to kind of riding a wave," Moreland said. "Things have been tough the last few years kind of as a whole for agriculture. And things are maybe, starting to kind of turn around and look a little bit better."
Inputs, which include feed, fuel, and fertilizer make the biggest waves.
The pandemic, drought, and the war in Ukraine played a role in wreaking havoc on the prices of all three items.
But now, suppliers have largely gotten around that problem.
"We have made it through some challenging times," Moreland said. " We made it through those crazy, high fertilizer prices. A lot of us had huge shortfalls on our hay crops. We had to make some adjustments, maybe sell a few cows, but we're all still here."
Perhaps the biggest indicator things are looking up is more than 90% of farmers recommend future generations follow in their footsteps.
"Just makes you feel good that farmers like and feel secure enough in what they're doing to want their families to come back and their kids to come back and be part of it," Moreland said. "That gave me the biggest hope, the biggest smile."
