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K.C. Fed: Stronger farmland values support farm economy

A report from the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank says stronger farmland values are providing support to the ag sector amid ongoing financial challenges.

A survey of the district’s bankers shows non-irrigated cropland values and cash rents increased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Although credit conditions in the district remained weak in the fourth quarter, bankers indicated the rate of deterioration was slower than it’s been in more than four years. They say Market Facilitation Program payments provided “notable support” to farm finances in 2019.

The Fed’s Tenth District includes Nebraska, Kansas, western Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Wyoming.