12/10/24 Afternoon CommStock Report – Election Results Revive Producer Optimism

The 2024 presidential and congressional election results unleashed a surge of optimism in the Ag sector. Maybe this was relief fueled over what will not happen relative to higher taxes and regulation. This burst of elation may or may not last but it suggests that the Ag sector was pleased with the election outcome. They look for favorable tax and regulatory treatment from the GOP victory. They do not appear to be concerned over labor, trade and tariff threats but that comes in 2025. The Perdue Commercial Producer survey jumped as a measure of optimism was recorded   I think that banker sentiment in January and the change to what occurred post-election was notable. The overall sentiment started the year cautious and weakened into October. The recovery in sentiment from 35.2 in Oct to 50.2 in November showed the highest optimism of the year to date. Bankers were reportedly dancing in the street over the prospects of financial deregulation. They never seem to get around to brokerage deregulation so we could dance too. Changes in perception of loan volume, deposits and CDs is their business. The year saw banker optimism for farmland prices start out strong at 64. Looking at…