CME Group Launches Broad Agriculture Index to Track Global Farm Economy

International derivatives marketplace CME Group has launched its new Agriculture Index, a benchmark designed to track the aggregate performance of five key agricultural sectors. The index integrates monthly futures prices from Grains, Oilseeds, Livestock, Dairy, and Lumber to provide a broad view of the global farm economy.

This composition allows the benchmark to monitor structural shifts in supply chains, evolving industrial demand, and changing consumer habits that impact farm goods costs worldwide. "Agriculture doesn't move one commodity at a time–and neither should the benchmarks that track it," said John Ricci, Managing Director and Global Head of Agricultural Products at CME Group.

The index's methodology aims for a fair representation of commodity costs by neutralizing price differences between futures delivery months and applying appropriate cross-market weightings. It serves as a complement to the existing Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, which measures producer sentiment.