Low commodity prices, high interest rates, steep input costs drive prices lower.

Iowa’s average farmland values decreased 3.1%, or $369, to $11,467 per acre this year, erasing last year’s 3.7% gain and ending a five-year trend of rising land prices.

According to the annual Iowa State University (ISU) Land Value Survey unveiled Dec. 17, the nominal value of an acre of farmland fell from last year’s record high of $11,835 but remains higher than the 2022 average. Adjusted for inflation, the 2024 value is 2.5% lower than the inflation-adjusted peak in 2013.

Rabail Chandio, assistant professor in ISU’s Department of Economics, who oversees the annual survey, cited falling commodity prices, persistently high interest rates and elevated input costs as key factors tightening profit margins and placing downward pressure on land values statewide.

“We saw land values rise for five straight years, including surges of 29% and 17%, which naturally leads to a reset or balancing in the market,” Chandio said. “If we look back to the ...