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Farm Credit Illinois seeing increased concern; land values drop

The CEO of Farm Credit Illinois says their membership is concerned about the financial uncertainty facing agriculture.

Kelly Duitsman Hunt tells Brownfield, “It is volatile.”  She says, “It’s been on a downward trend, more so in some areas than others. But yeah, for a couple of years now, we’ve been coming off a peak of net farm income, which is always hard.  There’s a lot of uncertainty. So, I think risk and uncertainty are two things that are on people’s minds right now.”

She says the co-op’s annual land value benchmark study, which has examined the value of the same 22 central and southern Illinois farms for nearly the past two decades, also highlights the downturn.

“Fourteen have declined year over year in value, 6 have actually increased in value, and two of those benchmark farms stayed relatively the same.”  She says, “The overall average is down 4% and the last time the overall average of our 22 benchmark farms decreased was 2018.”

Duitsman Hunt says the economy is leaving many of their members facing tight budgets as they begin to consider operating lines of credit for the 2026 crop.

Brownfield spoke with Duitsman Hunt at the 2025 Illinois State Fair.

AUDIO: Kelly Duitsman Hunt – Farm Credit Illinois