The average age of the U.S. farmer is around 60. Farmland real estate analysts are watching this number closely because farmers in the Baby Boomer generation are starting to retire, and it will likely directly impact land sales.
“I think there’s a kind of a bump in the number of farmers retiring and who will retire because there are Baby-Boom age farmers that either have retired already or will be retiring,” said Economic Insights Farmland Analyst Randy Dickhut. “And some of them may not have a successor. And so we’re gonna maybe see a few more landowners, the next generation sell and will then, you know, somewhat fewer farmers, personal sized farmers be able to buy that land that comes up for sale.”
Despite a sharp spike in interest rates and declining grain prices, land values have held steady over the last several years. However, Farmers National Company says some areas are seeing single-digit decreases in values. Less productive farms see anywhere between five and 10 percent decreases, but they note that productive ground is still selling at top dollar.
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