News

Cash rents coming down, returns on owned land higher

A farm management specialist with the University of Illinois says most farm managers expect cash rents to decline in 2026.

Gary Schnitkey says depressed commodity prices continue to weigh on land values and cash rents.

“We’re seeing slight declines in farmland prices from the beginning of the year, and that’s somewhere in the 2 to 3% range.”  He says, “We asked our farm managers what they would be charging next year for cash rent, and it’s about $15 to $20 per acre lower.”

He tells Brownfield that owning farmland continues to show better returns than renting.

“We haven’t seen the farmer return to cash rent land go anywhere in the last 25 years, but cash rent and the cost of land have gone up.”  He says, “So more return is going to the land.”

Schnitkey says it makes it especially difficult for young farmers looking to get started, as low farmer returns from cash-rented farmland, relative to land prices, make it challenging for farmers to use rented farmland to build capital to support a farmland purchase.   

Brownfield spoke with Schnitkey at the 2025 Farm Progress Show.

AUDIO: Gary Schnitkey – U of I