Indiana Farmland Values Hit Record
Published: Friday, August 29, 2025
Statewide average farmland prices once again hit a new record in 2025, according to the recent Purdue Farmland Value and Cash Rent Survey. The average price of top quality farmland is $14,826, up 3% from June 2024 (Table 1).
Average and poor quality farmland also hit new highs at $12,359 and $9,819 per acre, with an annual increase of 5.4% and 7.6%, respectively. However, unlike previous years, the survey indicates a mixture of increases and decreases in farmland values and cash rents across regions.
In both the Southwest and Southeast regions, farmland values fell across all three quality grades. These regions, however, experienced the largest price increases since 2020. The survey suggests that farmland in the regions declined through the latter half of 2024 and rebounded in the first half of 2025. However, on net, the 2025 gain does not override the 2024 losses.
The opposite pattern appears to hold in the four other regions of the state, increasing during the latter half of 2024 and declining in the first half of 2025. The highest per acre values across all three quality grades were found in the Northeast region, where top quality land fell just shy of $16,000 per acre.
At the state-level, respondents are modestly optimistic about the remainder of 2025. However, further declines are expected across all quality grades in both the Southwest and Southeast regions.
The value of land transitioning out of agricultural production exhibited a 5.3% decline from 2024, falling to $29,043 per acre.
The Purdue Farmland Values and Cash Rent Survey specifically asks for estimates of "farmland transitioning out of production agriculture and moving into residential, commercial or industrial use."
As one respondent noted, however, "residential land has a price range that is much less than commercial or industrial use." A number of other respondents note that major development projects, solar farms and data centers are driving farmland prices in their market area. Several respondents also note that the price impacts are not limited to the county in which the development occurs but, instead, may extend to neighboring counties or other regions in the state as the result of 1031 exchange.
Finally, one respondent notes that "development also raised housing costs and pushed recreational land values." The survey indicates that statewide recreational land values increased by 18.0% from 2024, to a per acre average of $9,542.
Similar to 2024, current farm incomes are putting downward pressure on farmland values, but the downward pressure appears greater in 2025. Crop prices continue to put downward pressure on farmland values, but the positive influence of livestock prices increased relative to the two previous years.
As one respondent suggests, "the livestock market is helping hold up farmland values."
While interest rates continue to put downward pressure on farmland values, the pressure seems to being lower than it was in the recent years. One respondent also highlights the differences in adjustable and fixed mortgage rates this year.
As suggested above, the strongest positive force for farmland prices remains the conversion to residential, commerical or industrial uses.
Once again, a large portion of the respondents suggest less farmland on the market relative to a year earlier, yet at 49%, this sentiment was reported by slightly less half of all respondents. An additional 44% see transaction volumes unchanged from 2024. One respondent also notes that "sales are taking longer than previous years," another measure of market liquidity.
While most respondents are modestly optomistic about farmland prices for the remainder of 2025, the survey's five year outlook for corn and soybean prices is slightly more pessimist than recent years (Table 2). The respondents are optimistic for lower interest and inflation rates five years from now.
Cash Rent
Statewide, cash rents exhibited a modest increase from 2024 to 2025 (Table 3). Indiana per acre cash rent for top quality land increased by 1.7% to $318, and per acre cash rent for average quality land increased by 1.6% to $264.
The statewide average per acre cash rent for poor quality land increased by 1.53% to $207. Consistent with land vale changes, cash rents declined across all three quality grades in both the Southwest and Southeast regions. Thus, cash rent as a share of land values held relatively steady from the previous year and did not vary drastically across regions. In addition, rental rates per bushel of corn held relatively stable as well.
In sum, farmland prices increased modestly in 2025 at the state-level and across the northern two thirds of the state.
However, farmland prices declined by varying degrees in the southern third of the state. Respondents generally expect prices to hold relatively stable for the remainder of the year, but, again, the expectations differ across the northern and southern portions of Indiana. Traditional farmland price drivers suggest a mix of downward and upward pressure. Respondents remain concerned about interest expenses and crop prices but expect continued upward pressure from commercial and industrial development.
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