After four years of double-digit growth in North Dakota’s average cropland prices, 2026 reports indicate that values have slowed momentum or even slightly reversed the trend in some regions.

According to the North Dakota Department of Trust Land’s annual land survey data, statewide cropland values grew 0.88% from 2025 to 2026. The North Dakota County Rents and Prices Annual Survey is available at www.land.nd.gov/resources/north-dakota-county-rents-prices-annual-survey.

Bryon Parman, North Dakota State University Extension agricultural finance specialist, says he sees the average flatten after four straight years of value increases. For easy interpretation across the state, Parman assembled the data by NDSU Extension region.

While the state average showed little or no growth, there were much wider region-specific swings: the North Central had a land price increase of over 8%, the Northwest grew at nearly 6%, the South Central saw an increase of just below 5% and the East Central increased approximately 2%.

However, the Southeast reported a decline in cropland values of nearly -7.5%, the Southwest declined by just over -3% and the Northeast declined almost -1%.

The North and South Red River Valley showed little change in cropland prices from 2025 to 2026.

Rents, for the first time in several years, increased more than land prices, with a statewide increase of 2%. However, rents were less variable than land prices. Three regions — the Southwest, Southeast and North Red River Valley — remained essentially unchanged, moving up or down by less than 1%. The largest rent decline was in the South Red River Valley at -2.5%.

The remaining regions saw rental rate increases. The largest increase occurred in the North Central at 8.2%, followed by the East Central, where rents increased 6.5%. The Northwest increased approximately 4.5%, South Central 2.7% and Northeast just under 2%.

“While it was widely expected that there would be a slowdown in cropland price growth across the state, which the state average supports, it is a bit surprising to see the wider regional swings,” says Parman.

When farm profits are thin and begin to impact land values, the volume of sales tends to slow. When that happens, the sales that do occur will have a much larger influence.

“So, if there were a region where a few individuals are making purchases, this could drive those averages up, while in other regions, a few sales at below the previous years’ averages can pull those averages down further than they normally would,” explains Parman.

However, rental rates typically adjust more slowly, as rents are often multiyear contracts that require several years of low net farm incomes to trigger major adjustments.

For more information, contact Parman at bryon.parman@ndsu.edu.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – May 6, 2026

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

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