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Cash rent averages unexpectedly up slightly in 2025

A farm management specialist at the University of Illinois says cash rent averages did a few unexpected things in 2025.

Gary Schnitkey says despite the slumping ag economy, some Corn Belt land rental rates increased.

“We saw rents stay the same to increase slightly.”  He says, “For example, on excellent quality land, cash rent went up $5 an acre. And I would say that the increase was a bit of a surprise.”

Schnitkey says it’s also unusual to see rents for high-quality land go up when overall values for that same land fall.

“Cash rents on excellent and good quality land increased, and average and fair quality land decreased a bit.”  He says, “We saw excellent and good quality farmland prices maybe dip a bit, and average and fair just kind of hang in there and maybe increase, so sort of the opposite, and that’s a curveball.”

He tells Brownfield, “I would attribute that to the good yields, as well as those government program payments that are going to about total $100 per acre and kept things afloat in the agricultural sector for this year.”

Schnitkey says competition for land and other regional conditions play a role in cash rent prices, but rates are predicted to remain stable heading into 2027.

AUDIO: Gary Schnitkey – University of Illinois