News

Strong yields drive partial recovery for Minnesota farms in 2025

Minnesota crop farmers experienced a slight financial rebound in 2025.

University of Minnesota Extension economist Pauline Van Nurden says their annual farm finance report represents 10 percent of Minnesota farms with gross income exceeding $250,000 and includes nearly 2,300 participants in the Minnesota State Farm Business Management program.

“2024, especially for crop producers, was very challenging. 2025 fortunately we saw much better weather, so yields were up drastically. Actually 15 percent above trendline, so pretty incredible yields.”

Median net farm income for Minnesota farms increased to $66,518 in 2025.

She tells Brownfield while this level remains below the long-term average, it does represent a meaningful improvement.

“We saw some real lows of course from 2013 to 2019. 2023 (and 2024 were) really challenging. 2025 is a rebound, but still not the highs that were experienced from 2020 to 2022 say, and 2012.”

Van Nurden says government programs also served as an important safety net in 2025, providing disaster relief and price support for several commodities.