According to the recent quarterly agricultural credit conditions survey, a net 7.2% of respondents reported demand for non-real estate farm loans decreased in the third quarter relative to the same time period last year. Specifically, 18.9% of respondents reported a decrease in loan demand and 11.7% said demand had increased during the quarter. Farm machinery loans were among the types of loans that saw the biggest decreases in volume for the third quarter, with a net 16.5% of bankers reporting decreases.

Results of Kansas City Federal Bank’s most recent survey of farm lenders shows that interest rates on farm loans have continued to inch higher. At the same time, the first quarter 2018 Agricultural Finance Monitor published by the St. Louis Fed indicates that farm income slipped for the 17th consecutive quarter.

Agricultural lenders are keeping a close eye on farmer finances, which includes trends in farmland values. Federal Reserve Banks throughout Mid-America are reporting that land values generally trended downward in the second quarter of 2016.

Lower farm commodity prices aren’t the only thing that determines whether or not North American farmers will increase equipment spending during the remainder of 2015 and into next year.

On average, lenders in the Eighth Federal Reserve District reported that 55% of the value of recent farmland transactions was financed with new debt, 30% supported by a pledge of existing equity and 15% paid in cash, according to latest Agricultural Finance Monitor published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Feb. 12.

Though down from the record sales of 2013, Farmers National Co. said it recorded strong real estate sales for the first half of 2014 despite economists’ projected downturn of farmland values.

While the unpredictability of commodity prices in the past year have given some cause for concern, the fact remains U.S. agricultural fundamentals continue to support the long-term health of the industry.

It looks as if the escalating prices for farmland are finally taking a breather, according to Murray Wise Assoc., a land auction firm headquartered in Champaign, Ill.