Farmers Are Borrowing to Survive, Not to Grow: March 2026 RMI

In this month’s episode of The Rural Banker, Dr. Ernie Goss breaks down the March 2026 Rural Mainstreet Index, and the tension between surging loan volume and collapsing confidence tells the story.The overall RMI fell to 40.9, its lowest level since October 2025, while banker confidence dropped from 45.8 to 29.5 in a single month. At the same time, loan volume jumped to 78.6. Dr. Goss explains why that borrowing surge is not optimism. It is farmers covering operating costs heading into planting season.We also get into how the Iran conflict is already affecting Midwest farm margins, why farmland values are holding despite weak income, and what bank CEOs are seeing that is not yet showing up in the broader data.Hosted by Andrew HooverProduced at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business / MCEISubscribe to The Rural Banker This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erniegoss.substack.com