In its report on the year ahead, CoBank says the rural economy is facing three significant headwinds: the pandemic, financial policies and the Chinese economy. This forecast expects COVID to have only a modest impact on the global economy and lengthy government shutdowns are unlikely. CoBank says the Federal Reserve will want to extend the economic recovery as long as possible but will eventually start raising interest rates. The phase one trade agreement is expiring and U.S. agricultural exports to China is a “wildcard.”
