The outbreak of COVID-19, as well as U.S. government response to the outbreak, continues to impact agricultural markets, disrupting supply chains, shifting consumer demand and expanding government outlays. Beyond the near term opening of the economy, the macroeconomic contraction is likely to have longer lasting effects.

In this week's podcast we look at how dealers' sales outlook for 2018 compares to that of the OEMs, cyber-based security threats to precision farming and an increase in non-real estate farm loans. In addition, we look into the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute's forecast for net farm income in 2018 and 2019, North American ag equipment sales through the first three quarters of 2018 and an improvement in irrigation equipment sales for Lindsay.