By Ann Johanns
The 2025 survey of cash rental rates for Iowa farmland shows that average rates decreased by 2.9% in 2025 to $271 per acre.
This is the first decline in cash rents since 2019, after a peak of $279 per acre the previous two years of the survey. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach conducts the annual Cash Rental Rates for Iowa Survey.
Crop reporting districts experienced differing results in cash rents from 2024 to 2025. They decreased 6.9% in Crop Reporting District 8 (south-central Iowa), while they increased 2.8% in Crop Reporting District 9 (southeastern Iowa).
Every crop reporting district showed a decline, with the exception of the Southeast Crop Reporting District. Its average cropland cash rent was 0.8% ($2) higher than its previous peak of $252 in the 2023 survey.
The intent of the Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2025 Survey is to report typical rents in force, not the highest or lowest values heard through informal sources. Iowans supplied 1,492 usable responses about typical cash rental rates in their counties for land producing corn and soybeans, hay, oats and pasture.
Of these responses:
- 44% came from farm operators
- 37% came from landowners
- 8% came from professional farm managers and realtors
- 6% came from agricultural lenders
- 5% came from other professions and respondents who chose not to report their status
Respondents indicated being familiar with a total of 2.5 million cash-rented acres across the state.
Variability across counties
There was considerable variability across counties in year-to-year changes, as is typical of survey data. However, 68 out of the 99 Iowa counties reported decreases in average rents for corn and soybean acres.
All land qualities reported similar decreases in average cash rents:
- High-quality land experienced a 3.4% decrease, from $328 per acre in 2024 to $317 in 2025.
- Medium-quality land experienced a 2.5% decrease, from $278 per acre in 2024 to $271 in 2025.
- Low-quality land experienced a 3% decrease, from $232 per acre in 2024 to $225 in 2025.
The report also shows typical rents for irrigated, alfalfa, grass hay, oats, pasture, cornstalk grazing and hunting rights by crop reporting district. New information in the 2025 report includes crop reporting district averages for land in organic crop production.
How to use the survey information
Survey information can serve as a reference point for negotiating an appropriate rental rate for next year. However, rents for individual farms should be based on productivity, ease of farming, fertility, drainage, local price patterns, longevity of the lease and possible services performed by the tenant. Three major factors with the potential to influence future cash rents are crop prices, government payments and land values.
The survey presents typical dollars of rent per bushel of corn and soybean yield for each county. It’s based on the county average yield for each crop during the last five years and row crop Corn Suitability Rating 2 index point.
This year, the rent per bushel ranged from 95 cents to $1.88 for corn and from $3.11 to $6.20 for soybeans, with overall averages for corn and soybeans of $1.39 and $4.67, respectively. The statewide average per CSR2 index point was $3.38, with a range of $2.32 to $4.78.
An important factor considered by landowners when negotiating cash rents is the return on their farmland investment. Calculations based on the ISU Land Value Survey and Cash Rental Rates for Iowa Survey show the evolution of the ratio of average cash rents to average land values in Iowa.
The calculations suggest that the average return on investment for landowners who cash-rent their land to operators has followed a declining trend since the early 1990s, stabilizing at about 3% after 2010. Note that this ratio does not measure net returns, as ownership costs, including real estate taxes, are not considered in its calculation.
Survey resources
The annual survey was carried out by ISU Extension and Outreach. This information would not be possible without the 1,492 responses on typical cash rents from producers, landowners and ag professionals across the state. Every survey response is greatly appreciated. The full publication is available for download.
AgDM File C2-10, Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2025 Survey, provides detailed results by county and crop reporting district. Archived publications from previous years also are available on this webpage, and Ag Decision Maker File C2-11, Historical County Cropland Rental Rates, reports historical county averages from previous years.
Other resources available for estimating a fair cash rent include the AgDM Information Files Computing a Cropland Cash Rental Rate (C2-20), Computing a Pasture Rental Rate (C2-23) and Flexible Farm Lease Agreements (C2-21). All of these fact sheets are on the Ag Decision Maker Leasing page and include decision tools (electronic spreadsheets) to help analyze individual leasing situations. An online decision tool can be used to visualize the cash rents by land quality in each county by year, and compare trends in cash rents for a county versus its CRD and the state average.
For questions regarding the cash-rent survey, contact the author at aholste@iastate.edu. For general leasing questions, contact the farm management field specialist in your area. Farm management specialists once again will present farmland leasing programs across the state in July and August for an in-depth assessment of trends and issues affecting Iowa tenants and landowners.
Johanns is an ISU Extension program specialist.