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Farm Credit Illinois CEO says members are feeling ag downturn

The CEO of Farm Credit Illinois (FCI) says the cooperative’s members are already feeling the impact of the ag economy slowdown.

Aaron Johnson tells Brownfield…

“I believe the squeeze is going to show up more in 2025.”  He says, “You know, commodity prices aren’t what they were, and it seems like input costs for next year, that we’re hearing, are not going down much. Land values are still really strong.”

He says he’s not hearing much enthusiasm in the countryside.

“There’s not a lot of optimism for commodity prices and exports, and I think the feelings always been, there’ll be something coming that we’ll be able to take advantage of.”  He says, “The members I’m talking to today just don’t seem to have that same optimism.”

Johnson says FCI’s recent annual land values study showed an average seven percent increase in benchmark properties, but he says that could be changing.

“Four years in a row now, we’ve seen an increase in farmland values and with what’s going on with the margins, it should taper that and maybe we might even see it come down a little,” he says.

Johnson says the cooperative is starting to see an increase in loan requests, but he also believes many farmers utilized the higher commodity prices of the past few years to help solidify their operations. 

AUDIO – Aaron Johnson – Farm Credit Illinois