WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. farmer sentiment in May dropped to its lowest level since October 2016 amid the U.S.-initiated trade disputes with China, a survey showed Tuesday.
The Ag Economy Barometer, which measures U.S. agricultural producer sentiment, dropped to 101 points in May, 14 points lower than that in April, said the survey by Purdue University and CME Group.
The results "erased all of the large improvement in farmer sentiment" that took place following U.S. President Donald Trump's election in November 2016, said the survey.
Among the 400 agricultural producers surveyed nationwide, positive outlook in short-term and long-run both plunged in May, it said.
Over half of the farmers said they expect their wealth to diminish while only 39 percent of respondents in February and 35 percent in May 2018 said so.
"Farmers have become significantly more negative with respect to income and what is likely to take place with regard to their wealth," said James Mintert, director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture and the barometer's principal investigator.
On the issue of U.S. soybean export to China, 20 percent of farmers said they believed it would be settled by July, down from 45 percent in March.
"Farmers are becoming less optimistic that the trade dispute will be resolved quickly, and they are also becoming less optimistic that the trade dispute will be resolved in a way that's really favorable to U.S. agriculture," said Mintert.
