Farmland Values Rebound Within Seventh Federal Reserve District

Saturday, February 13th, 2021 -- 8:13 AM

(Wisconsin Ag Connection) Farmland values rebounded within the Seventh Federal Reserve District during the past year, with every state in the Upper Midwest seeing increases in agricultural property.

According to the Wisconsin Ag Connection, that's according to the latest survey of agricultural lenders in the district, which stated ag property values were six percent higher during the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier (the largest such gain since 2012) and rose four percent between the months of October through December from the previous quarter.

In the most recent questionnaire of 137 rural bankers, survey respondents noted that Wisconsin properties were up seven percent from last year, and climbed two percent during the fourth quarter.

Farmland in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan also saw a growth in value, with Indiana showing the most strength compared to late-2019 at nine percent.

Oppedahl notes that farmland values were spurred by higher corn and soybean production in most areas of the district, as well as higher livestock prices.

And producers were also able to take advantage of lower interest rates on farm operating, feeder cattle, and farm real estate loans by the end of 2020.  For the first time since the first quarter of 2011, a majority of responding bankers predicted farmland values to go up in early 2021, with none of them expecting them to go down.

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