URBANA, Ill. — Neither year-over-year declining commodity prices nor adverse trade policy can apparently stop the bearish ascent of Corn Belt-state farmland values. Data released by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows Illinois farmland values increased by 3.6 percent in 2026 over the prior year, as did Ohio farmland values. In Iowa, farmland values increased by 3.9 percent, while tillable Indiana soil saw a whopping 4.2 increase over 2025 values. 

The NASS report placed the average farm real estate value for Illinois in 2026 at $9,250 per acre, including the value of all land and buildings used for agricultural production. This was 3.6 percent higher than the 2025 average of $8,930 per acre and the sixth year in a row of at least a 2.4 percent increase in Land of Lincoln land values. There has been a steadier increase of 2.4 percent to 3.6 percent since 2020, with an anomalous 10.5 percent spike occurring in 2022,  according to the Illinois report.

Members of the University of Illinois farmdoc team and the Illinois Society of Professional Farmland Managers and Rural Appraisers (ISPFMRA) broke down the USDA-NASS findings during an August 27 webinar. Farmdoc’s Todd Gleason and economist Gary W. Schnitkey were joined by Dr. Juo-Han Tsay, assistant director of the TIA Center for Farmland Research, and Luke Worrell of Worrell Land Services in Jacksonville, Ill., representing the ISPFMRA. 

“You will notice that USDA has farmland real estate up by around 3.6 percent (at $9,250) for Illinois, and it’s always interesting to compare (USDA’s figures) with what our friends and colleagues out there have to say,” said Worrell, before noting that ISPFMRA’s recent mid-year 2026 survey of 50-to-75 third-party land managers and owners found that average-quality Illinois farmland is selling around $10,200 per acre. 

There may be signs, however, that values are beginning to decline. “From January 1-June 1 our professionals saw a very slight decrease in values. The past couple of years we’ve seen marginal softening, this coming of course after the euphoric rise in land values from 2021-2023,” Worrell said. 

Perhaps helping to prop up land values in some areas were purchases of agricultural-zoned land for wind or solar energy purposes, battery storage facilities or data centers, the farm realtor noted. “If you look back at historic land values and what areas of Illinois have brought the highest dollar per tillable acre it has always been central Illinois. When you look into northern Illinois you find more transitional land, more developmental land, and you will see some really asinine dollars (paid by buyers) per acre,” said Worrell. 

Estate sales continued to lead all types of Illinois farmland sales in 2026, followed by local and institutional investors. No reported foreign sales of Illinois farmland were recorded in the first half of 2026, according to ISPFMRA’s mid-year survey. “The Illinois market is still largely driven by the local producer, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon,” Worrell said. 

An interesting note shared by Worrell from the ISPFMRA’s midyear survey: 43 percent of lenders participating with the Federal Reserve Bank feel that farmland is overvalued. 

Tsay spoke about 2027 cash rent expectations, noting that average Illinois cash rents for 2026 averaged $384 per acre for top-quality farmland in 2026. Survey respondents expect that figure to slide to $380 per acre in 2027. Of the types of rental agreements, variable cash leases led the way with 35 percent, followed by share-rent at 28 percent, Tsay reported. 

The panelists noted that all survey results and observations were based on commodity prices and expectations from the first half of 2026 ($4.54 corn and $11.57 soybeans), prior to July-August increases in corn and soybean futures. “I think if we asked all of the same questions in our survey today, I think people would probably say rents would be level, at a minimum, and perhaps up slightly. We have added nearly a dollar (per bushel) on the value of corn and beans since the survey window shut,” Worrell observed. 

USDA’s estimates of farm real estate values by state can be accessed through the USDA NASS Land Values 2026 Summary. ISPFMRA’s 2026 midyear survey results can be found at https://ispfmra.org.