Brazilian farmer confidence in business performance

Abstract

The aim of this article is to understand how rural producers in Brazil generate their investment expectations in terms of their costs, productivity, and other macroeconomic variables related to agricultural production. This study contributes to the formulation of more efficient public policies that take into account not only market information, but also the expectations of farmers. Based on data from a survey that calculates the rural producer confidence index in Brazil, non-parametric tests were performed to assess the equality of responses attributed by them in different periods, configured as crop development and harvest start, during 2014 and 2017. The results indicate that the farmer’s behavior is sensitive to changes in the market and his business. Productivity is seen as a long-term expectation. The cost of production and the sale price have generated short and medium-term expectations.