Megan Hughes, land and crop market specialist for K-State Research and Extension, said the state’s agricultural land values appear to be stabilizing as producers enter 2026.
After several years of rapid appreciation, the land market is showing more measured movement, influenced by profitability pressures, interest rates and the increasingly diverse ways land generates income, according to a K-State Extension report.
“Things like hunting access or energy development can absolutely increase land value,” Hughes said. “Those nonagricultural uses matter, and they’re part of what keeps demand strong in certain areas.”
Hughes also offered these tips:
Make a move. Diversified farmers are taking all their enterprises into account when making land decisions. Low profitability in the crop sector can bleed into everything else.
Look at outlook. Land values may remain relatively steady, but economic pressures are building. With Kansas net farm incomes in 2026 projected to remain steady or decline compared with 2025, producers are evaluating long-term investments.
Stay updated. Interest rates continue to be a driver in land market behavior.
Hughes said that a shift in land values can have ripple effects since real estate is a substantial share of farm wealth nationwide.
“Real estate accounts for about 80% of farm assets in the United States,” she said in the report. “Any change in land values can affect a farm’s financial position moving forward, even if you’re not buying or selling land.”
The 2025 Kansas Land Values Book, published by K-State Extension, is a benchmark average that farmers and land buyers can use to help them evaluate land values and identify trends.
Here are recent land sales in the state:
Decatur County. About 300 acres of irrigated dryland and creek-bottom ground southwest of Oberlin, Kan., sold at auction Jan. 30. Tract 1 was a dryland quarter-section planted to wheat for 2026 that sold for $2,950 per acre. Tract 2 was 140 acres of irrigated and creek-bottom hunting ground, with two pivots and three irrigation wells on alfalfa and cornstalks, and it sold for $2,500 per acre. Larson Land & Cattle LLC was the seller. Farm & Ranch Realty, Colby, Kan., handled the sale.
Marshall County. Southeast of Marysville, Kan., four tracts of dryland, pasture and hunting ground totaling 341 acres sold at auction Jan. 30. Tract 1 was 91 acres of cropland and sold for $7,252 per acre. Tract 2 was 44 acres of dryland and pasture and sold for $5,227 per acre. Tract 3 was 8 acres that included a 1920s home and outbuildings, and it sold for $245,000. Tract 4 was 198 acres of dryland, pasture, and hardwoods and creek land for hunting, and it sold for $3,840 per acre. The seller was the Mark & Elda Rose Koch Trust. Midwest Land & Home, Washington, Kan., handled the sale.
Wichita County. About 320 acres of open dryland and grassland north of Leoti, Kan., sold in one tract at auction Jan. 27 for $1,550 per acre. The seller was Franks Farm. Farm & Ranch Realty handled the sale.
Finney County. About 1,100 acres of dryland north of Garden City, Kan., sold at auction Jan. 23. Tract 1 was 150 acres and sold for $2,900 per acre. Tract 2 was 320 acres and sold for $3,300 per acre. Tract 3 was 310 acres and sold for $2,900 per acre. Tract 4 was 320 acres and sold for $3,000 per acre. The seller was the Ashton D. Rayl Trust. Farm & Ranch Realty handled the sale.
Cloud County. A 201-acre tract of dryland, meadow and hunting ground northwest of Clyde, Kan., sold at auction Jan. 22 for $3,880 per acre. The seller was Lois Golbeck. Midwest Land & Home, Washington, Kan., handled the sale.
Logan County. About 485 acres of irrigated land and dryland east of Wallace, Kan., along the Wallace-Logan County border, sold at auction in two tracts Jan. 20. Tract 1 was a half-section of irrigated ground with two wells and two new submersible pumps with a capacity of 500 gallons per minute, and it sold for $2,100 per acre. Tract 2 was 160 acres of dryland, and it sold for $1,950 per acre. The seller was Suzanne Bussen. Farm & Ranch Realty handled the sale.
Washington County. A mixed tract of 127 acres of dryland and meadow north of Washington, Kan., sold at auction Dec. 12 for $9,850 per acre. The seller was Stolzer Farms LLC. Midwest Land & Home handled the sale.
Pottawatomie County. A 100-acre tract of pasture and hay ground north of Wamego, Kan., sold at auction Dec. 5 for $7,600 per acre. The seller was the Lila Jean Flinn Trust. Midwest Land & Home handled the sale.
Marshall County. A tract of 148 acres of dryland northeast of Marysville, Kan., sold at auction Nov. 28 for $11,360 per acre. The seller was the Ringen Trust. Midwest Land & Home handled the sale.
Editor’s note: To include a land auction in this monthly report, please email jennifer.latzke@farmprogress.com or call 620-253-5497.