(Radio Iowa) – An economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is in central Iowa today (Friday) to offer Iowans a glimpse into what the Fed does and his role in helping to formulate policy. David Oppedahl says his focus is on conducting research in the agricultural sector and in rural development. He notes, the Federal Reserve Bank isn’t the type of bank where you’d open a savings account or use an A-T-M.
“We deal with cash operations for distribution of currency,” Oppedahl says, “but also, we do the monetary policy for the United States where we’re looking at how interest rates interact with having maximum employment and stable prices as our two mandates from Congress.” The Chicago operation is one of 12 regional banks under the board of governors and together, they form the Federal Reserve system. Oppedahl says this five-state region is a key national hub for agricultural activity.
“You have the number-one state in Iowa for hogs and corn and egg production,” he says, “and you have number-one in cheese in Wisconsin, and then you have number-one soybeans in Illinois, and of course, a lot of ag exports.” As part of the Fed’s research team, Oppedahl says they get their agricultural data from a host of sources, including the U-S-D-A, in-person regional roundtables, and through surveys of agricultural bankers every quarter, including detailed dives into farmland values.
How’s the Midwest ag economy doing? He says it’s very much a tale of two cities.”With the crop producers having very tight margins, a challenge in terms of their profitability with income down, but then the input costs being quite high, especially with fertilizer and diesel,” Oppedahl says. “The livestock side is looking much better with pretty good income there.” Everything goes in cycles, he says, and “farmers have to make the best they can of managing the risks.”
Oppedahl spoke earlier today to members of the Des Moines Rotary Club.
