The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago just released their 2015 First Quarter Agricultural Newsletter, and their survey of agricultural bankers during this time period showed little change in the average price of good farmland across the six state region. Surprisingly, especially considering the current prices of corn and soybeans, over half of these lenders believed…
Tag: Farmers
2015 Farmland Returns
Forecasted profits for 2015 continue to look bleak for farmers and they will more than likely see the lowest returns of the last 5 years. A new article posted by Gary Schnitkey on the University of Illinois’ Farm Doc Daily (Farmland Returns in 2015) analyzes the hard numbers and where the financial outlook may end…
The Revised Agricultural Conservation Compliance Regulations
As part of the 1985 Farm Bill, the Congress implemented rules for farmers and landowners to follow if they wished to be receive government farm program payments in the future. These regulations focused on areas that were considered the most environmentally fragile – wetlands and highly erodible soils. Not all farmers were happy with these…
Mixed Signals in the Midwestern Farmland Market?
To the casual follower of farmland price trends, reading recent articles about land values might seem confusing. One press release from Iowa, discussed the results of a state Realtors Land Institute survey that reflected an 11% price decrease from 2014 (click here for IA report). A similar survey in Illinois showed that values there were only down…