News
Chicago Fed: 2020 farmer financials dramatically improved
The Chicago Fed says despite the pandemic farmland values in the district were the highest in eight years.
Senior business economist David Oppedahl says farmland values increased six percent compared to 2019 in their survey of ag bankers. “It’s really quite an extraordinary change from a year ago and that’s something that will give us a strong start for 2021,” he says.
Land values in the fourth quarter were the highest in Indiana and Wisconsin with overall values up six percent for the District, similar to the third quarter.
Oppedahl says financial farm standings are also improving, partly because of the lowest interest rates in the history of their ag survey along with government payments and better crop prices.
Most ag bankers in the survey are forecasting higher farmland prices in the first quarter of 2021.
