Despite lower commodity prices, tighter crop margins and uneven weather across parts of the Corn Belt, farmland values have not cracked.
Newly released benchmark data and land-market experts point to a market that remains resilient — and that resilience is carrying over into cash rent negotiations for 2027.
Data From First Six Months of 2026
Across the eight-state region served by Farm Credit Services of America, AgCountry Farm Credit and Frontier Farm Credit, benchmark farmland values increased 1.9% over the past six months and 3.5% over the past year, according to the Collaborating Associations’ mid-year farmland values report.
The report includes 93 benchmark farms across Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. That stability is notable because it comes as producers continue to face lower corn and soybean prices, elevated costs and tighter margins.
Farmland Values Remain Resilient
Kirk Manker, senior vice president of appraisal for Farm Credit Services of America, AgCountry Farm Credit and Frontier Farm Credit, said the headline for the back half of 2026 is the strength of the land market despite pressure from commodity prices.
“It’s been so interesting that we’ve had this challenge in commodity prices, and a lot of people have been watching or wondering if the market’s going to go down. It’s been so resilient, it continues to hold its own,” Manker said.
The benchmark report shows that resilience across the region. On average, farmland values are up:
- 1.9% over six months
- 3.5% over one year
- 5.9% over two years
- 53.6% over five years
- 60.1% over 10 years
Manker says the market’s strength reflects the financial position many producers built during stronger income years, and farmers and ranchers remain the primary buyers of farmland. That continues to support values.
“The availability of real estate on the market, the fact that farmers and ranchers are the primary buyers continues to bolster that market. It’s local, there’s pride, there’s a legacy asset they are working to build,” he says.
Iowa Levels Out, While Pasture Markets Strengthen
The benchmark report shows regional differences beneath the overall stability.
Iowa, which saw some of the strongest increases during the land market run-up, is now showing signs of leveling. Iowa benchmark values were flat over the past six months, down 1.4% over the past year and down 4.3% over two years. However, values remain 31.6% higher than five years ago and 51.1% higher than 10 years ago.
Iowa cropland benchmark values decreased 0.7% over the past six months and 2.6% over the past year.
Manker said Iowa’s trend is not surprising given how quickly values rose earlier.
“What happens in Iowa is like throwing a pebble in a pond. It kind of reverberates out. So we saw the market in Iowa increase the most in the past. That rapid increase leveled out. And now is there some softening? Possibly, but it’s minor.”
Manker says livestock exposure is helping support land values farther west.
South Dakota benchmark values increased 4.2% over six months and 6.4% over one year. South Dakota pasture benchmark values increased 10.2% over six months and 13.9% over one year.
Nebraska pasture/ranch benchmark values increased 3.5% over six months and 16.7% over one year. North Dakota pasture values increased 7% over six months and 24.4% over one year.
Auction Results Show Buyers Are Still Active
Jim Rothermich, an appraiser with Iowa Appraisal, tracks Iowa land auctions and on the latest Top Producer podcast said auction results continue to show a stable market.
Rothermich says roughly 60% of Iowa farmland is traded through auction, based on information he receives from Iowa State University. He views those auction results as one of the clearest real-time indicators of market value because they are openly exposed to buyers.
“These auction results are so important is because they were openly negotiated, and they had full exposure to the market,” Rothermich says. “To me, that is true market value. That’s an instantaneous result of true market value.”
For the first half of the year, Rothermich analyzed Iowa auction data for farms that were 80% tillable or higher and 35 acres or larger, excluding farmsteads, development tracts and other unusual factors.
He said the Iowa auction market averaged $13,747 per acre, or $172 per CSR2 point, during the first six months of the year. That was up $1 per CSR2 point from Dec. 31.
“I would consider the market as stable, just slightly up a bit, but that’s not enough to consider it’s increasing,” he says.
Rothermich says the more striking point is how little Iowa farmland has pulled back from its recent peak.
“As I measure the data I had from June 30 of this year, the first six months, and pair it with what I had in of same time in 2022, we’re only off 5% from the peak. That is amazing,” he says.
That is especially notable given the decline in commodity prices since 2022.
“It’s really hard to do because corn prices have fell off 40% from that peak time in in 2022,” Rothermich says.
The next major test for the land market will come as more farms move into the late-year auction season. Manker says his team tracks sales and upcoming auctions continuously and is gearing up for auction volumes to increase post-harvest.
Cash Rents Chase Land Values
That land-market strength matters because it influences cash rent negotiations.
Manker says rents tend to follow land values, though not always immediately.
“I’ve been around for a long time, and what I see is cash rents chase land values,” he says. “As land values went up, cash rents–it took them a little while–but they got on the same trajectory as land values. As this levels out I see cash rents staying fairly stable.”
Barry Ward, with Ohio State University Extension, said Ohio cash rents are also firm despite headwinds from weather, crop margins and property taxes.
“It’s a mixed bag, but generally it’s firm,” Ward says.
Ward says Ohio saw mixed weather last year, including drought in parts of the state. At the same time, higher property taxes have affected landlord expectations.
Ohio State’s 2025 survey showed cash rents in western Ohio increased about 1.3%, Ward said. For 2026, he expects a similarly small increase.
“This year, if I’m going to guess, it’s going to be very similar, probably 0-2%, and somewhere in that range. It’s going to be a minor increase,” he says.
Why Rents Are Slow to Move Lower
Ward says part of the reason rents are slow to adjust is that landlords may not process the farm profitability picture as quickly as tenants do.
“Landlords are often not always processing all of the information immediately,” Ward says. “Sometimes it takes them a year or two to see some of the profit picture.”
Government payments can also complicate rent discussions.
“Landlords are very sensitive, I think, these days also to government payments,” Ward says.
That does not mean all landlords are disconnected from farm economics, Ward says. In many cases, they are watching closely.
Rothermich says he expected rents to decline more than they have, given high input costs and lower commodity prices. But cash rent auction results and conversations with landowners suggest many rents simply carried forward from the previous year.
“I thought they were going to have to come down because of the high input costs, high fertilizer costs,” Rothermich says. “But it didn’t seem to affect it.”
He says that is directly tied to the strength in land values.
“The way this land market is going on right now, there’s no way it can come down because these prices are steady, just maybe just a little higher,” Rothermich says.
What Farmers Should Bring to Rent Talks
As farmers prepare for 2027 lease conversations, Ward says they should be ready to talk honestly with landlords about costs, commodity price risk, policy uncertainty and the farm’s ability to pay.
“Farmers are reluctant to be too transparent,” Ward says. “Especially in this environment, share some of the challenges farmers are facing.”
He says farmers should also be careful about assuming future government assistance will offset tight margins.
“There’s no guarantee that we’re going to have another ad hoc program payment,” Ward says.
Ward also encourages farmers and landlords to put lease terms in writing, especially as termination deadlines approach in many states.