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Goss: Farmland prices keep climbing

An ag economist says farmland prices continue to increase across the Corn Belt.

Ernie Goss is with Creighton University. “The remarkable part is even though farm income is down and farm commodity price are down, farmland prices are up and still continue to grow,” he said. “The bankers, I, and most everyone else connected to the ag economy, expected prices to soften. They have not.”

According to the December Rural Mainstreet Index, a survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of 10 Midwestern states, the region’s farmland price index increased to 67.2 from November’s 66.7.

He tells Brownfield higher borrowing costs and tighter credit conditions could have an impact on future land acquisitions. “The Federal Reserve is going to loosen up interest rates somewhat. Six to seven percent rate cuts in 2024, we would have to be in a recession to get those rate cuts.”

Goss says many farmers have been purchasing land with cash.