From DTN Progressive Farmer, May 13:
Agricultural bankers in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin see higher incomes, high loan repayment rates, higher land values and higher cash rents, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
For the first three months of 2021, ag bankers said farm incomes improved from the year before, which in turn lead to a steady increase in loan repayment rates as well as lower demand for new loans and renewals. The survey included 67 respondents, all bankers that regularly respond to the survey.
"The reasons mostly focused on the sustained increase and improvement in crop prices for the core agricultural commodities produced in our region, as well as good yields and production from 2020, leading to bountiful harvests to continue marketing," said Joe Mahon, a regional research director for the Minneapolis Fed. "And, of course, continued government aid that persisted through 2020. That's bolstered farm balance sheets during those last few difficult years."
The bank also asked what an acre of land cost and compared the responses to last year's survey to estimate the change in land values. Across the region, land values were 6.8% higher than last year....
....MUCH MORE
And from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis:Recently:
May 21
Creighton University's "Rural Mainstreet Index Soars to Record High: 90% of Bankers Report Labor Shortages Restraining Growth"
For the first time since 2013, the regional farmland prices expanded for eight straight months. May 14
Farmland: "Bullish Land Price Outlook"
As goes the farmgate commodity basis, so goes the entire rural economy edifice, banking and finance, retail provisioners, land prices, the whole thing built upon the price of wheat. And corn. And soybeans. and cotton. And marijuana....
