Year over year, Iowa farmland values are down 2.2%. That’s the latest result from The Realtors Land Institute Iowa Chapter survey, where participants were asked to estimate the average value of farmland as of September 1, 2025.
In the past six months, the statewide average showed a 1.2% decrease. The six months before that resulted in a 1% decrease. This is all for tillable acres.
Iowa Realtors say this continues the sideways trend for land values since the market spiked in 2021 and 2022.
“The market is continuing to confirm it’s stubbornly stable,” says Matt Vegter, Hertz Farm Real Estate. “To post the numbers we did with the uncertainty in the market with tariffs, the price of corn and soybeans, it’s really a bright spot in the farmland market.”
Survey respondents say the market is stable despite bearish corn and soybean prices.
What’s helping stand up the market are:
- Lack of inventory
- Expectation for an above average crop for most of Iowa
- Strong cattle prices
Vegter says for his area of business, central Iowa, listings are down 10% to 20%, and that holds true across most of the state.
“The summer is normally slow, but this was extra slow,” he says. “Typically inventory picks up in the fall through the winter, and we are expecting an average season ahead.”
Pasture acre values across the state trended flat or up for every reporting district, ranging from 0% to +6.8%. Per acre average values range from $4,498 to $5,504 per acre.
Looking ahead through the winter, which is traditionally a time for higher volume in transactions, the Realtor respondents are watching how farmland values could be effected.
“The strongest values are in northwest Iowa and northeast Iowa, where you have the most cattle feeder,” he says. “But those strong values can be attributed to how profitable cattle have been in the last year or two.”
All states in the Chicago Federal Reserve district, average a 3% percent increase in dollar value of “good” farmland from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. And by state:
- Illinois 0%
- Indiana 3%
- Iowa 4%
- Wisconsin 11%
“We say that eight of 10 farms we sell are bought by a local farmer,” Vegter says. “That trend won’t change.”
