The outlook for a return to growth in US farmland values,
particularly cropland, appears bleak despite scattered signs of an early-2015
recovery, central bank data showed.
Land prices in the Corn Belt returned to growth, quarter on
quarter, in the January-to-March period - albeit by only 1% - including gains
in Iowa, the top corn and soybean producing state, Federal Reserve data showed.
"All states had improved results," said the Fed's Chicago
bank, whose region also includes states such as Indiana, Iowa and Michigan.
In the central Plains wheat-growing region, covering states
such as Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, while prices overall "edged down", the
decline in values of non-irrigated farmland slowed, a report from the Fed's
Kansas City bank showed.
Few expect values to
rise
However, neither banks, following surveys of lenders in
their regions, held out prospects for sustained price gains, particularly for
arable land, for which values are being weighted by weak crop values.
The Kansas City Fed said that in its area "very few bankers
expect price appreciation", with more than a quarter of lenders surveyed
expecting cropland values "to decline further in the next three months". 
