By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Busey Bank presented its economic projections for this year at the 17th Annual Economic Outlook for McLean County at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Tom Good, executive vice president of Busey Bank, is predicting agriculture output in McLean County to be $427 million dollars in 2015, down from $500 million in 2014 and $570 million in 2013. The bank came to that conclusion because of the relatively low commodity prices this year, Good said.

“If we do have higher than expected yields, our estimate will be off,” Good said. “But if you bundle it all together, we look at it as a relative negative for agriculture in 2015.”

Good said they’re also estimating that farm ground prices will drop slightly in 2015. The current average price per acre in McLean County is $12,000 dollars.

Retail sales in the county are expected to be $2.5 billion this year, an increase of $500 million from last year. Good said retail sales have been on the decline in recent years.

“But we still are expecting a slight upturn in 2015 and the reason is because we think people have a little bit more spendable income both here in McLean County and nationwide,” Good said. “Primarily due to the price of gasoline, which has stayed low.”

The number of businesses in McLean County is holding steady. 4,006 businesses paid sales tax in McLean County last year, an increase of one business from 2013.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].