As North Dakota cropland values flattened from 2025 to 2026, pastureland values continued to rise.

Bryon Parman, North Dakota State University Extension agricultural finance specialist, says pastureland values increased approximately 7% from 2025. Since 2021, North Dakota statewide pastureland values have increased from $972 to $1,556 per acre, reflecting a 37.5% increase in five years.

These values are based on the North Dakota Department of Trust Land’s annual land survey data. For easy interpretation across the state, Parman assembled the data by NDSU Extension region. The North Dakota County Rents and Prices Annual Survey is available at https://www.land.nd.gov/resources/north-dakota-county-rents-prices-annual-survey.

“This year marks the first time since being tracked that every NDSU Extension region’s pastureland values were over $1,000 per acre,” says Parman.

The NDSU regions do not include values for the north or south Red River Valley, nor the northeast region, due to low numbers of reported pastureland rental rates or sales values. Parman recommends observing trends or multiyear movements rather than single-year variation for an accurate reflection of conditions.

Every NDSU Extension region saw at least a small increase, with the largest occurring in the northwest, where pastureland values grew from $936 to $1,186 per acre. The north central and southeast also grew, averaging $1,332 and $2,154, respectively, or 4.4% and 4.7%. The east central and south central pastureland values grew less — approximately 2.5% each — and the southwest recorded the smallest increase at just over 1%.

Pastureland rents also increased, but at a slower pace than land values. State average pastureland rents increased by just over 4%. Average pastureland rents declined slightly in the southeast, falling from $38 to $35 per acre. However, rents were either flat or increased everywhere else: the north central region increased $2 per acre to total $24, the east central increased $3 per acre to total $30 and the south central increased by $3 per acre to total $32. The remaining regions’ rent averages saw no or very slight changes.

“The growth in pastureland values isn’t all that surprising given where beef cattle prices have been the last couple of years,” says Parman. “However, some people might have expected a much larger increase in pastureland rents from 2025 to 2026, which did not appear to have happened.”

The economics of pasture rents differ from those of cropland. Typically, extremely high beef cattle prices are due to low cattle inventories. Low cattle inventories means there isn’t an immediate demand to rent more pasture, so there’s no pressure to drive rents up despite high beef prices.

Pastureland values, however, are impacted by high beef prices, which can factor into a longer-term growth plan, rather than a one- or two-year decision.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – May 11, 2026

Source: Bryon Parman, 701-231-8248, bryon.parman@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu