By Erika Lundy-Woolfolk
The Iowa State University (ISU) Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2025 Survey has been published, and the results make an interesting read for any landowner, tenant or farm manager.
For the first time in six years, row crop rental rates decreased by almost 3%; however, rental rates on pasture and forage acres across the state remain steady to 3% higher for the ninth straight year. Record-high beef prices, narrowing margins on forage acres, increasing competition for existing forage acres, and rising property taxes likely play a significant role in the strong forage rental rates faced by Iowa cattlemen and small-ruminant producers.
Rental rates on pastures in Iowa have increased almost 20% during the last decade. For high-productivity pastures with an estimated stocking rate of 2.5 or less acres per pair for the summer and adequate fence and water, the state average rate reported was $94 per acre in 2025. During the last 10 years, rental rates bottomed in 2017 at $71 per acre and recently topped at $95 per acre in 2024.
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