WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Despite double-digit increases and decreases in farmland values in some regions of Indiana, the state’s average farmland prices remained relatively stable over the last year, according to a Purdue University professor of agricultural economics.

“Land values at the state level didn’t really see a lot of movement,” said Todd Kuethe, also Schrader Chair in Farmland Economics. “My general rule of thumb is if price movements are less than 4 percent up or down, I think of that as relatively flat.”

As reported in the 2026 Purdue University Farmland Values and Cash Rent Survey, the average value of top-quality farmland in the state rose 0.6 percent to $14,909 per acre from June 2025 to June 2026. Average quality land fell 1.1 percent to $12,121. Poor quality land was down 3.1 percent to $9,460.

Cash rents were down for top and average quality farmland, but up for poor farmland.

The survey was conducted in June for the prior 12 months. Respondents included farm managers, rural appraisers and agricultural loan officers. The survey categorizes farmland based on productivity. The values are for tillable, bare land. The results were released in August.

The southwestern part of the state had the highest average for top quality land at $15,750. Central Indiana had the highest value for average quality land at $13,432 and for poor at $10,476.

Southeastern Indiana had the lowest values for each land category - $10,500 for top, $8,500 for average and $8,000 for poor.

Southwestern Indiana had the largest increase – 10.7 percent – for top quality farmland, while west central Indiana had the biggest increase – 6.2 percent – for average quality. The biggest increase in poor quality land – 31.5 percent – was in the southeast.

Northeast Indiana saw the biggest drops in all three categories, as top quality was down 13.9 percent, average decreased 17.1 percent and poor fell 15.9 percent.

Kuethe discussed the latest survey in a video from the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture. In the video, he reflected on surveys from 2014-2019, saying an author of those surveys described the market as “up, down and sideways.”

“I feel like that’s where we’re at here in Indiana,” Kuethe noted. “I’ll talk to people around the state and some people are saying this is the best year I’ve ever had. Land values are great. Then I talk to other people (who) say this is the worst it’s ever been.”

Respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of 11 market factors that could influence the farmland market, Kuethe said. Those factors included net farm income, crop and livestock prices, inflation and ag policy.

Livestock prices and land conversion were the most positive influences on values, while farm income and crop prices put the most downward pressure on farmland prices, he said.

For the last two years, farm liquidity was considered to have a positive influence on prices, but that changed for this year’s survey, Kuethe pointed out.

“(They’re) saying maybe we’ve started to run out of that big cash that we hit several years ago and now maybe liquidity is coming down a little bit,” he said.

Overall, Kuethe described the state’s farmland values as flat.

“There are places that wish they were flat. We have some declines in some pockets of the state by different land qualities and some places that had pretty high growth. But in aggregate, if we look across the entire state, it smooths out to relatively flat.

“I would say stable to a little more negative but I don’t think it’s ‘get out now’ negative. This is like ‘let’s be careful before we do anything’ kind of pressure.”

Respondents were asked what they think will happen with farmland values from June to December. They expect top farmland to drop 0.7 percent, and average and poor to be down 1.1 percent.

“Basically this kind of pessimism kind of holds in all quality grades,” Kuethe explained. “People are generally expecting the remainder of the year, downward pressure to be dominant. We think there will be downward pressure but small.”

The average value of the state’s transition land – described as land moving out of production agriculture – fell 6.1 percent to $27,260 per acre. Recreation land dropped 5.2 percent to $9,043.

Average cash rent statewide fell 4.1 percent to $305 per acre for top quality farmland, the report said. Cash rent for average quality land dropped 1.4 percent to $260 and cash rent for poor quality was up 3.3 percent to $214.