Report
Land values in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa: 2026
USDA put 2026 farm real estate at $10,100 an acre in Iowa, $6,950 in Minnesota and $6,700 in Wisconsin. The main public sources, dated, and why they differ.
By Jordan Johnson, Founder, Kedron Co.Updated 7 min read
USDA valued farm real estate at $10,100 an acre in Iowa, $6,950 in Minnesota and $6,700 in Wisconsin in its 2026 survey, up 2.4% to 4.4% from a year earlier (USDA NASS Land Values 2026 Summary, July 31, 2026). Other sources put each state higher or lower, and each measures something different, so the right number depends on the land and the question.
2026 land values by state (USDA)
| State | Farm real estate 2025 | Farm real estate 2026 | Change | Cropland 2025 | Cropland 2026 | Change | Pasture 2025 | Pasture 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | $9,790 | $10,100 | +3.2% | $10,300 | $10,700 | +3.9% | $3,650 | $3,800 | +4.1% |
| Minnesota | $6,790 | $6,950 | +2.4% | $7,000 | $7,300 | +4.3% | $2,300 | $2,400 | +4.3% |
| Wisconsin | $6,420 | $6,700 | +4.4% | $7,250 | $7,600 | +4.8% | $3,300 | $3,500 | +6.1% |
| Lake States (MI, MN, WI) | $6,690 | $6,890 | +3.0% | $6,940 | $7,240 | +4.3% | $2,830 | $2,970 | +4.9% |
| United States | $4,350 | $4,500 | +3.4% | $5,830 | $6,020 | +3.3% | $1,920 | $2,000 | +4.2% |
Source: USDA NASS, Land Values 2026 Summary, released July 31, 2026. Dollars per acre, from a survey of farm operators conducted April to June each year. Farm real estate covers all land and buildings on farms.
Over four years, USDA's farm real estate value rose 13.7% in Iowa (from $8,880 in 2022), 20.2% in Minnesota (from $5,780) and 18.8% in Wisconsin (from $5,640). Those percentages are Kedron calculations from the NASS series.
What the other sources say, state by state
| Source | Measure | Iowa | Minnesota | Wisconsin | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDA NASS | Farm real estate, estimated value | $10,100 | $6,950 | $6,700 | 2026 survey (April to June) |
| Iowa State University | All farmland, survey of professionals | $11,549 (+0.7%) | n/a | n/a | Nov 1, 2025 |
| RLI Iowa chapter | High-quality cropland / timber | $13,890 / $4,862 | n/a | n/a | Sept 1, 2026 |
| UW-Madison Extension | Bare farmland sales, 35 to 2,000 acres | n/a | n/a | $7,238 (+9.6%) | 2025 sales |
| USDA NASS Wisconsin | Farmland without buildings, 497 sales | n/a | n/a | $9,057 | 2025 sales |
| USDA NASS Wisconsin | Forest land, 902 sales | n/a | n/a | $3,952 | 2025 sales |
| Chicago Fed lenders | Change in farmland values, year over year | up | n/a | down | Q2 2026 |
| Minneapolis Fed lenders | Non-irrigated cropland | n/a | fell | n/a | Q1 2026 |
Sources: ISU 2025 Land Value Survey (released Dec. 17, 2025); RLI Iowa, September 2026 Land Trends and Values (released Sept. 24, 2026); UW-Madison Extension, Wisconsin Agricultural Land Prices 2025 (May 20, 2026); USDA NASS Wisconsin Agricultural Land Sales summary and Forest Land Sales, 2025 editions (released Sept. 1, 2026); Chicago Fed AgLetter, August 2026; Minneapolis Fed ag credit survey, Q1 2026 (May 18, 2026).
Iowa
Iowa State's county survey is the number most Iowa landowners have heard: $11,549 an acre statewide, from $16,269 in O'Brien County to $6,679 in Appanoose. The RLI Iowa chapter's September 2026 survey had tillable values up 0.6% since March and 1.9% over twelve months, with timber and recreational land up 2.1% over the six months. All 99 counties are in Iowa land values by county.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin has the most sales data of the three states and the most confusing spread of numbers. NASS counted 497 sales of farmland without buildings that stayed in farming in 2025, down from 1,147 in 2021, while the average price rose from $6,202 to $9,057 an acre. UW-Madison's analysis of bare farmland sales put the 2025 average at $7,238, up 9.6%, with district averages from $4,760 in the northwest to $10,420 in the southeast. County forest land prices are in Wisconsin wooded and hunting land prices by county.
Minnesota
Minnesota has no published statewide average sale price for 2025 that we could verify, so USDA's survey is the statewide number: farm real estate at $6,950 an acre in 2026 (up 2.4%), cropland at $7,300 (up 4.3%) and pasture at $2,400 (up 4.3%). Lenders were less upbeat. The Minneapolis Fed's survey for the first quarter of 2026, the latest it had posted as of September 30, 2026, had non-irrigated cropland down 0.7% across its Ninth District from a year earlier, and lenders in Minnesota and North Dakota reported non-irrigated cropland prices falling. The Fed didn't publish a Minnesota percentage. For local sales, the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Land Economics site reports farmland sales by county and township from Minnesota Department of Revenue data on sales reported to county auditors, with new data each May for the prior year.
Why the numbers differ
A landowner who reads $6,700 in one place and $9,057 in another will assume someone is wrong. Usually no one is. Here is what each number measures.
- USDA NASS land values are estimates of what land is worth, from a survey of about 30,000 farm operations conducted April to June. Farm real estate includes buildings and every kind of farmland, so it runs below cropland. Good for year-over-year trend and state comparisons.
- Iowa State University asks appraisers, lenders, farm managers and other professionals (316 of them in the 2025 survey) what land in their counties is worth as of November 1. It is an opinion survey, which is why it has county detail but no sale counts.
- RLI Iowa chapter surveys land professionals in March and September by land class (high, medium and low-quality cropland, pasture, timber). It is the only regular public source for Iowa timber values.
- UW-Madison Extension averages Wisconsin Department of Revenue bare-land sales between unrelated parties, 35 to 2,000 acres, and leaves out parcels with water frontage or Managed Forest Law acres.
- USDA NASS Wisconsin land sales average recorded sales from Department of Revenue transfer returns and exclude sales made under other than normal market conditions, such as family sales. It splits farmland from forest land and reports sale counts by county.
- Federal Reserve surveys ask ag lenders how the value of "good" farmland changed. They show direction early but don't give a price.
For a landowner-facing version of this, see what is my land worth.
What about hunting and recreational land?
No public source publishes a recreational land price per acre for Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa together. The closest public figures:
- Wisconsin: NASS forest land that stayed in forest use averaged $3,952 an acre in 2025 on 902 sales. Among counties with 20 or more sales, it ran from $8,230 in Buffalo County to $1,566 in Douglas County.
- Iowa: RLI's September 2026 timber value was $4,862 an acre statewide, from $3,990 in north central Iowa to $5,472 in east central Iowa.
- Minnesota: the Land Economics timberland sales series stopped updating in 2014.
- National: the Realtors Land Institute's 2025 Land Market Survey (April 2026, 453 responses) reported recreational land prices up 1.9% in 2025, against 0.8% for non-irrigated farmland.
How to read these numbers
- Name the source and date every time. "$6,700 an acre (USDA NASS, July 2026)" survives a seller's second opinion. "$6,700 an acre" doesn't.
- Match the measure to the land. Quote cropland values for tillable ground, forest or timber values for wooded ground, and sales data with its count for anything else.
- Averages are a range check, not a price. County and state figures tell a seller whether their number is in the right neighborhood. Access, soils, timber, water and buildings decide where a parcel lands. When the gap is large, say so early and show the comparisons.
- Adjust for inflation when you talk trend. Chicago Fed lenders saw "good" farmland flat in dollars from mid-2025 to mid-2026, which they reported as a 3.7% decline in real terms.
When this updates
| Source | Frequency | Latest | Next expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA NASS Land Values | Annual | July 31, 2026 | Summer 2027 |
| ISU Iowa Land Value Survey | Annual | Dec. 17, 2025 | Mid-December 2026 |
| RLI Iowa Land Trends and Values | March and September | Sept. 24, 2026 | March 2027 |
| USDA NASS Wisconsin land sales | Annual | Sept. 1, 2026 | Late summer 2027 |
| UW-Madison Wisconsin land prices | Annual | May 20, 2026 | Spring 2027 |
| Minnesota Land Economics sales | Each May, prior year's sales | 2025 sales | May 2027 |
| Chicago Fed AgLetter | Quarterly | August 2026 | November 2026 |
| Minneapolis Fed ag credit survey | Quarterly | May 18, 2026 (Q1) | Q2 2026 not posted as of Sept. 30, 2026 |
Figures on this page are as of September 30, 2026. We update it when each source above publishes a new edition, starting with the Chicago Fed's November 2026 AgLetter and ISU's December 2026 survey.
For the quarterly lender view, see the Upper Midwest farmland market report. All our reports are on the market data page.
Keep two numbers for each county you work: the USDA state figure for trend and the most local sales or survey figure for price, each with its source and date.
Common questions
Are farmland values going down in 2026?
It depends on the survey. USDA's 2026 survey had farm real estate in all three states up 2.4% to 4.4% from 2025. Lender surveys were weaker. Chicago Fed lenders saw "good" farmland flat across their district in the second quarter of 2026 (a 3.7% drop after inflation), with Iowa up and Wisconsin down, and Minneapolis Fed lenders reported Minnesota non-irrigated cropland values falling in the first quarter of 2026.
