A new survey shows that a 15-year trend of rising cash rental rates for farmland in Iowa may have turned around. This is consistent with recent evidence of a leveling off or slight decrease in Iowa farmland values.

Declines in most districts

The survey was carried out by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach. For the state as a whole, reported rental rates for land planted to corn and soybeans were down from $270 per acre last year to $260 in 2014, or nearly 4 percent. This is very close to the change in Iowa farmland values over the past 12 months reported in surveys conducted by the Iowa Realtors Land Institute.

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