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Farmland prices increased, but pessimism looms: Purdue’s 2024 report

Indiana farmland prices continue to hit record highs – Purdue University released its annual Farmland Value and Cash Rent Survey report last month, which saw the average price of top-quality farmland reach more than $14,000 per acre, representing a 4.8 percent year-over-year increase. Average and poor-quality farmland also saw gains of 3.7 percent.

However, respondents noted that much of the growth appeared to have taken place in the latter half of 2023, and a number of forces are cause for pessimism. In fact, Todd H. Kuethe, Schrader Endowed Chair in Farmland Economics and the survey’s author said in a release that various forces are placing “downward pressure” on prices – but what’s keeping them up is limited supply of land.

Much of the report indicated a good deal of pessimism for the remainder of 2024. However, when asked to look at macro trends over the next five years, respondents showed some degree of optimism. Price expectations for corn and soybean sit just above the average over the last five years. The farmers surveyed also expect both interest rates and inflation to moderate slightly, and for cash rents and land values to increase by 13 percent by 2029.

Click here for the full report.

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