Low commodity prices and negative margins will continue to exert downward pressure on the cash rental rates for farmland in Iowa and across the Midwest in 2017, agriculture economists said last week.

The continued pressure on cash rent is likely to spur additional negotiations between landlords and tenants as they work to find equitable rent levels in a changed agricultural economic climate, the economists said. The pressure on cash rental rates could also boost the popularity of "flex-lease" ar­­rangements that are designed to adjust to the ...