By Hope Kirwan
Agricultural bankers in Wisconsin and neighboring states report feeling pessimistic about farmers’ profitability at the end of 2025.
Surveys by the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Chicago found tougher farm credit conditions in the third quarter of 2025. Surveyed farm lenders reported lower rates of loan repayment and higher demand for extensions and new loans.
The bankers projected those trends to continue for the final quarter of the year, despite the expectation for a strong corn and soybean harvest this fall. More than 80 percent of respondents to one survey expected farm income to be lower than a year ago.
Joe Mahon, regional outreach director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said during a webinar on the data that a continued slump in crop prices is driving farm incomes down.
“We’re seeing, overall, the market conditions are sort of dominating,” Mahon said during the presentation. “Strong production should offset some of (the lower prices), so that’s good news to farmers. But we’re not necessarily seeing that balance out in terms of higher income because prices are so low.”
Rene Johnson, senior vice president of agricultural lending at Lake Ridge Bank, told WPR that the farmers she works with in southern Wisconsin are eager to see what their balance sheets look like at the end of harvest.
Producers who were able to lock in a profitable sale price at the start of the year or who found discounts on fertilizer and other inputs will be better off, she said. Like most industries, farmers have felt the squeeze of higher prices for labor, fuel and equipment thanks to inflation.
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