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Midwest land values hit new peak; rate of increase slows

Ag land values in the Midwest continue to rise.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reports values in the Seventh District saw an annual increase of six percent in 2023.  However, David Oppedahl, Fed policy advisor, says that increase has slowed…

“It was a little softer, you know, the first single digit increase in several years,” he says.

The Seventh Federal Reserve District is comprised of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan.

He tells Brownfield several factors are at play…

“Farmers are seeing corn and soybean prices are down a lot, so incomes have been down in the district and that’s passing through into credit conditions as well as the need for working capital is growing.”  He says, “So there seems like a little momentum for higher rates of taking up loans.”

But, Oppedahl says the ag economy remains fairly strong…

“There still seems to be some upward momentum for farmland values.”  He says, “You know it’s slowing, but it’s still a relatively stronger situation than we had prior to COVID.”

77-percent of ag bankers surveyed expect Midwest land values to remain stable through the first quarter of 2024.