Iowa State University Extension’s annual survey shows the first statewide decline in cash rental rates for farmland since 2019. Rental rates went up 9% in 2023 and were stable last year.
The drop this year is 2.9%, an decline of $8 per acre. “I think it was probably what we were kind of expecting to see for 2025’s rents,” says Ann Johanns, a program specialist with ISU Extension.
The survey does not seek information about cash rental rates for individual farms. Farm operators, landowners, realtors and professional farm managers are asked instead about cash rental rates for cropland in their counties. Cash rental rates for corn and soybean fields dropped in 68 out of Iowa’s 99 counties. “Almost all the crop reporting districts were down slightly except for the southeast corner of the state,” Johanns says. “It’s kind of hovered around $250 an acre the last few years and it was up just a couple of dollars at $254 (an acre).”
The biggest decrease was in south central Iowa, where rental rates for cropland fell nearly 7%. The statewide average rental price per acre for rented farm ground was $271 this year. Landowners rent nearly six out of every 10 acres of cropland in Iowa.