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| Best of NAMA 2026 |
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USDA: FARMLAND VALUES HAVE CLIMBED NEARLY 44% SINCE 2020
Aug. 10, 2026
By Daniel Munch, Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation
Key Takeaways
Farmland values remain at record highs even as growth slows. Average farm real estate values rose 3.4% to $4,500 per acre in 2026, marking a sixth consecutive annual increase and a nearly 44% gain since 2020.
The post-2020 increase has reshaped the cost of agricultural land. Cropland values are up 48% and pasture values nearly 43%, with the largest gains concentrated across the Plains and Midwest while development, energy and other competing uses add pressure in many local markets.
Stable cash rents offer little relief for producers. Average cropland rent declined by just $1 to $160 per acre and remains 15% above 2020, leaving renters with elevated costs but none of the equity gains benefiting landowners.
Rising values strengthen equity and borrowing capacity for landowners, but record purchase prices and near-record rents create additional pressure for tenants, beginning farmers and operations seeking to expand as margins tighten.
USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service's recently released annual Land Values 2026 Summary and updated cash-rent estimates show U.S. agricultural land values reached another record in 2026, even as appreciation continued to slow. Average farm real estate value, including land and buildings, rose $150, or 3.4%, to $4,500 per acre. Cropland values increased 3.3% to $6,020, while pasture values rose 4.2% to $2,000 per acre. Since 2020, average farm real estate values have climbed nearly 44%, highlighting farmland's continued resilience as an asset despite tighter margins across portions of the farm economy.
Cash rents remained near historically high levels but moved little overall. Average cropland rent declined by $1 to $160 per acre in 2026, still 15% above its 2020 level. On a per-acre basis, irrigated cropland rent held at $244, non-irrigated rent declined by $1 to $146, and pasture rent increased by $1 to a record $16.50. Rather than signaling a broad shift in rental markets, the figures show that land costs remain elevated even as farm revenues and margins face pressure.
The continued rise offers a mixed signal for the farm economy. Higher values strengthen farm balance sheets and provide landowners with additional equity and collateral, but they also raise the cost of buying, renting and expanding an operation. Farmland prices increasingly reflect more than agricultural earnings alone. Development, energy projects, outside investment and generational ownership changes can intensify competition for a limited land base, leaving land technically agricultural but less available, affordable or workable for the farmers and ranchers seeking to use it.
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