A recent Farm Journal poll on Twitter showed 57 percent of respondents are willing to walk away from cash rental agreements if they can’t be renegotiated. Even more surprising is the Pro Farmer Landowner Survey that showed farmers saying if land prices don’t come down, they may walk away too. “44 percent of our members and subscribers are willing to walk away from a cash lease if it can’t be lowered in 2017,” said Mike Walsten, Editor of the Pro Farmer Landowner newsletter. Walsten said the number of farmers willing to walk away from cash rent agreements is up to 14 percent, which means cash rent conversations could be even tougher this year than they were last year. He said land values could also see a drop, but probably not as much as in years past. However, these numbers don’t mean there isn’t a market out there for farmland. Walsten said when the chance to acquire new acres comes up, there are farmers that come looking for the right price. “We see that 30 percent of our audience is willing to get back into the land market if the right price comes along,” Walsten said.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.