News

High cash flows help support farmland market

A Midwestern ag banker says healthy cash flows are helping keep the farmland market strong.

Mike Bahl with U.S. Bank tells Brownfield he’s not sure farmers are getting good value paying record prices for tillable ground.

“What I do know is a lot less of it is being financed than had been in the past, meaning that there’s good liquidity in the marketplace and a lot of farmers or investors, they are all using a large amount of cash to put into that.”

He suggests high cash flows lessen the impact of rising interest rates.

“Can they afford it or not? And that’s what we always look at on the bottom line. So a big increase in prices, but there are some people out there who can afford it and are affording it at this price.”

Randy Dickhut with Farmers National Company says good quality cropland that would’ve sold for $16,000 an acre last fall is now selling for more than $21,000 in some areas.