Chicago Fed anticipates continued improvement in farmland values

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Chicago Fed anticipates continued improvement in farmland values

The Chicago Fed says farmland values and credit positions in the district improved in the first quarter.

Senior business economist David Oppedahl says farmland values increased seven percent compared to last year in their survey of ag bankers as commodity prices and export demand improved along with the economy.

“There have fewer loans demanded by farmers,” he says.  “There just seems to be essentially plenty of liquidity for current operations in agriculture and this is tipping the kind of lending that’s occurring away from the operations and into longer-term improvements.”

Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin farmland values increased by about 10 percent while Illinois was up four percent.

For the first time in seven years, cash rental rates increased.

Nearly three-quarters of ag bankers are forecasting higher farmland prices for the second quarter as well.