Bankers Expect Farmland Prices to Continue Decline

Rural bankers expect farmland prices will continue to decline. In the latest Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index, Midwest lenders on average estimated that farmland prices declined by 4.0 percent over the past 12 months and expect farmland prices to fall by another 3.2 percent over the next 12 months. An Illinois lender says “more than ever,” farmland values are extremely dependent upon quality and location. The farmland and ranchland-price for October sank to 34.8 from 37.5 in September. This is the 59th straight month the index has fallen below growth neutral 50.0. The overall rural economy index expanded to 54.3 from 51.5 in September. Organizer Ernie Goss says that while the rural main street economy is expanding outside of agriculture, “the negative impacts of tariffs and low agriculture commodity prices continue to weaken the farm sector.”