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The price of farmland in Minnesota grew 25% year-on-year, commanding more than $6,200 per acre. This follows a 12% increase in 2021.
High valuations brought a historically significant volume of acreage to the market in 2022, surpassing the previous record in 2021.
These increases were primarily driven by growth in farmer savings over the last three years fueled by high commodity prices, increasing government payments and low-interest rates. These low-interest rates also enabled farmers to obtain larger loans to purchase more land, adding pressure to land values and creating competition for farmland coming to the market.
Farmland is an essential asset for most farmers in terms of value and importance for their long-term success. At FBN®, our team of data scientists and appraisers puts Farmers First® by continuously monitoring the farmland market to provide transparent, timely and actionable insights. We believe that delivering trusted reporting is essential to creating a better farmland marketplace that’s more fair for farmers — whether buying, selling, or refinancing.
This analysis delivers data-driven insights on trends related to Minnesota farmland values by exploring:
Why farmland values increased nationally in 2022
Broad, state-level trends in transaction values and sales volume
A detailed analysis of each of the eight United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agricultural districts in the state.
Localized analysis is essential for understanding how soil quality, yield, and farm revenue shape farmland values across Minnesota. The cost of land per bushel of production helps optimize investment options with higher returns. Similarly, the slope of yield gain helps assess long-term expected yield for a given parcel.
Soil quality is one of the main drivers of farmland values. In Minnesota, the National Commodity Crop Productivity Index for Corn (NCCPI) is a widely used index for rating the relative quality of the soils. Using the NCCPI, we categorize Minnesota's farmland parcels into three soil quality levels, each of them representing an equal total area.
(See Methods section at the end of this postfor details about the limits for each soil quality class.)
Because different districts have different average NCCPI scores, a different proportion of each of the three soil quality categories is represented in the area. To determine the year-on-year change in value, we compared farmland values from the last six months of 2021 with the same period in 2022.
At the state level, the soil quality with the most significant percentage change was the High class, with 30.0%.
On the other end, the soil quality with the lowest change in price was the Low class, showing a 9.0% difference.
Land values increased in seven districts. Land values decreased in one district. The largest percentage changes were in the North Central and South Central districts, with 48.2% and 32.9%, respectively. The East Central and Central districts saw the smallest percentage change, with 16.7% and -2.8%, respectively. We excluded the Northeast district, for not having enough sales to estimate the different metrics presented in the analysis.
The highest average land values were observed in South Central Minnesota, at $9,790 per acre.
The lowest average land values were seen in North Central Minnesota, at $1,510 per acre.
Transaction volume was at a record high in 2022, being the highest volume of the last thirteen years. The total area sold was 10.0% higher than the previous year (2021) and 29.5% higher than the last thirteen years' average (2010-2022).
The price of farmland in Minnesota grew 25.0% year-on-year, commanding more than $6,200 per acre.
High valuations brought a historically significant volume of acreage to the market in 2022, surpassing the previous record in 2021.
Localized analysis is essential for understanding how soil quality, yield, and farm revenue shape farmland values across Minnesota. The cost of land per bushel of production helps optimize investment options with higher returns. Similarly, the slope of yield gain helps assess long-term expected yield for a given parcel.
The Central region is 49.2% cropland and 11.5% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 32,558 ac were sold in Central MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 19,714 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the first quarter of the year — a total of 9,572 ac (29.4% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 47 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 17 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 166 $/bu and 63 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
To calculate the value per ac for a different parcel, multiply the NCCPI of the parcel by 207 $/NCCPI and subtract 6,698 $/ac. The result is the estimated value of the parcel in $/ac.
Boxes show the distribution of yields. The bottom of the box is the lowest 25% yield, the central line is the median (50%) yield, and the top of the box is the 75% yield. The bottom of the horizontal line is the 10% yield and the top of the horizontal line is the 90% yield.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for Central Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The East Central region is 7.3% cropland and 10.3% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 6,807 ac were sold in East Central MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 2,714 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the first quarter of the year — a total of 2,159 ac (31.7% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 18 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 16 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 64 $/ bu and 57 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
In this district, we could not determine a clear relationship between NCCPI and farmland value. The R2 is 0.03, which is low and shows that there is too much noise to establish a relationship. Other factors may be affecting farmland values that are not captured by soil quality.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for East Central Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The North Central region is 2.4% cropland and 3.0% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are soybeans and alfalfa.
In total, 283 ac were sold in North Central MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 1,624 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the second quarter of the year — a total of 145 ac (51.4% of total annual sales).
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for North Central Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The Northwest region is 52.7% cropland and 5.3% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are soybeans and spring wheat.
In total, 27,797 ac were sold in Northwest MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 27,112 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the first quarter of the year — a total of 7,941 ac (28.6% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 29 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 21 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 105 $/bu and 76 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
In this district, we could not determine a clear relationship between NCCPI and farmland value. The R2 is 0.04, which is low and shows that there is too much noise to establish a relationship. Other factors may be affecting farmland values that are not captured by soil quality.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for Northwest Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The South Central region is 75.0% cropland and 5.2% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 20,973 ac were sold in South Central MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 16,976 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the third quarter of the year — a total of 6,094 ac (29.1% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 47 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 42 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 162 $/bu and 148 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
In this district, we could not determine a clear relationship between NCCPI and farmland value. The R2 is 0.0, which is low and shows that there is too much noise to establish a relationship. Other factors may be affecting farmland values that are not captured by soil quality.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for South Central Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The Southeast region is 53.4% cropland and 13.4% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 14,465 ac were sold in Southeast MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 11,956 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the second quarter of the year — a total of 4,182 ac (28.9% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 44 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 46 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 160 $/bu and 168 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
In this district, we could not determine a clear relationship between NCCPI and farmland value. The R2 is 0.0, which is low and shows that there is too much noise to establish a relationship. Other factors may be affecting farmland values that are not captured by soil quality.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for Southeast Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The Southwest region is 79.3% cropland and 7.8% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 22,012 ac were sold in Southwest MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 15,354 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the fourth quarter of the year — a total of 8,307 ac (37.7% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 57 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 40 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 205 $/bu and 141 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
In this district, we could not determine a clear relationship between NCCPI and farmland value. The R2 is 0.05, which is low and shows that there is too much noise to establish a relationship. Other factors may be affecting farmland values that are not captured by soil quality.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for Southwest Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The West Central region is 63.1% cropland and 7.0% grassland/pasture. The primary crops grown are corn and soybeans.
In total, 30,272 ac were sold in West Central MN in the last twelve months. This compares to an average of 24,342 ac per year sold between 2010-2022. Most sales occurred in the second quarter of the year — a total of 9,496 ac (31.4% of total annual sales).
One interesting metric is the price per bushel of grain. In this district, the soils with the highest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 44 $/bu. On the other end, the soils with the lowest NCCPI show a price of farmland per bushel of corn of 18 $/bu. For soybeans, those values were 155 $/bu and 64 $/bu, respectively.
Graph showing the relationship between ILPI and land price. Each point is a 2022 season sale, and the line shows the trend.
To calculate the value per ac for a different parcel, multiply the NCCPI of the parcel by 139 $/NCCPI and subtract 1,644 $/ac. The result is the estimated value of the parcel in $/ac.
Average yield for 2015-2021 compared to 2008-2014 for West Central Minnesota. Crop yields in 2012 were anomalously low due to severe drought and were excluded from calculations.
The farmland transaction dataset analyzed in the report was drawn from public deed and property transaction records and enhanced with environmental geospatial data by FBN. Only fair market parcel transactions with >=20 ac and at least 70% area in agriculture land uses (cropland or pasture) were included in calculations.
We used the National Commodity Crop Productivity Index for Corn to classify soils into three quality tiers, each of them representing an equal total area:
High (NCCPI higher than 105)
Medium (NCCPI 49 to 69)
Low (NCCPI below 49)
Yield trends across regions and soil quality groups were calculated using FBN field-level yield estimates for corn and soybeans. The FBN yield estimates shown here leverage farmer contributed yield data to help identify patterns between yields and data layers including satellite imagery, weather, soil and more. No farmer contributed yield data was used directly in estimating yields by soil and region.
Direct income ($/ac) was estimated for both corn and soybeans to document how both changes in yield and basis across the state may shape farmland values. To estimate direct income, we simply multiply the estimated per acre yield with the typical grain price received around harvest (September-November) in that year, assuming no storage or drying fees.
More information about grain prices can be found on the FBN Profit Center website.
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Any charts and graphs provided are for illustrative purposes only. Any performance quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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