Central Corn Belt farmland values rose 3% in the second quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s quarterly survey of agricultural bankers. The Fed bank notes the gain is the largest annual increase since the first quarter of 2024.
On a quarterly basis, values are 1% higher in the second quarter of 2025 versus the first.
Survey respondents in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin note values showed annual gains of varying degrees. Wisconsin led the group with an 11% surge. Iowa sports a 4% boos. Indiana reports a 3% gain. Illinois values, meanwhile, are unchanged from a year earlier.
In real terms (adjusted for inflation with the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, or PCEPI), values rose 1% from a year ago. This was also the first positive year-over-year change in real farmland values for the district since the first quarter of 2024, the bank observes.
“Indiana and Wisconsin bankers cited real estate development as contributing to higher farmland values,” the banks comments. “For Indiana, there was also mention of investment activity, including solar and wind projects, factoring into rising agricultural land values.”
Looking ahead to the third quarter, only 4% of survey respondents anticipate farmland values will rise, while 78% expect them to be stable. About 17% look for them to fall (percentages do not add up to 100% because of rounding, the bank says).
District agricultural credit conditions weakened slightly in the second quarter compared to a year ago, the bank notes. The share of farm loans with “major” or “severe” repayment problems was 2.9%, up from last year’s 2.2% and the highest reading since 2020. The share of farm loans with “no” repayment problems declined to 90.1% from 91.6% a year ago. Repayment rates for non-real-estate farm loans were lower in the second quarter compared with a year ago while renewals and extensions of such loans were higher.