Farmland values across the Ninth Federal Reserve District showed signs of easing during the first quarter of 2026, marking the first notable slowdown after several years of gains. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Regional Economist Joe Mahon says the decline in values was relatively small, but significant because it represents a shift in the farmland market. “Overall for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, we saw a decline in the average price for an acre of non-irrigated farmland by just below one percent.” Mahon says land prices remain historically high even after adjusting for inflation. “The last time you would see values approaching as high as they are in inflation-adjusted terms would be in the early 1980s prior to the 1980s farm crisis,” Mahon said. “There was kind of a crash in land values that led to a lot of liquidation on farms.”
