Farmland sales are picking up as they do every fall.  Our auction schedule is a busy one through mid-December and it seems most like to sell when one crop year ends.  If you are considering a farmland sale you might wonder, what are farmland values?  Should I sell sooner or later?  What is the prevailing best sales method?  Here at Halderman we can help you answer all of those questions.

This article is about valuations.  Farm incomes are down in 2025 so what are farmland values doing?  If you read reports from around the Corn Belt you might find that the farmland professionals in Iowa say farmland is down -1.2% year over year.  In Illinois the professionals say farmland is down -1.5% to – 3.5% year over year.  At Halderman our data shows it is holding its value well in 2025.

We evaluate our farmland sales using WAPI data.  We take any sale with 90%+ cropland and no improvements and divide the sales price per acres by the Weighted Average Productivity Index for the soils on that farm.  In Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan soils are rated for their ability to produce corn.  The corn yields/WAPI scores range from below 100 to 188 bu./acre in Indiana.  That does not indicate what they will actually produce, but they give us a tool to compare one farm to another on a key element of value.

Therefore, if a farm sells for $15,000/acre and the WAPI is 161 bu./acre the WAPI score is $93/bu. of productivity index.  The 2025 average WAPI score is near $88/bu.  Below is a chart of the qualifying sales.

You can see the general trend through the first 9 months is strength.  This also some the wide range of variability in the sales.  Every farm is unique and therefore the wide degree of values on the chart.  That is where Halderman Can Help.  If you want to discuss our thoughts on farmland values for your specific farm we can provide that insight and deploy those tactics as needed.

Halderman watches developing trends such as this and considers the long term as well as short term impacts on farmland investments, farms we manage and how it might impact the farmland market.  If you want help, choose someone with local knowledge combined with the “world” view of developing trends and issues that impact your farm.   Please reach out to us at 800-424-2324 or www.halderman.com to explore what might be interesting to you.