Land Market Watch — September 2026

The land may be holding its value. The economics of holding it are getting more demanding.

September brought a sharper distinction between land wealth and operating strength.

USDA’s latest farm-finance outlook shows that farm income remains under pressure even while farmland continues to represent one of the strongest assets on the agricultural balance sheet. USDA estimates U.S. farm real estate at approximately $3.60 trillion, accounting for about 83 percent of total farm assets in 2026. Average U.S. farm real estate value stands at $4,500 per acre, up 3.4 percent from 2025, but only 0.4 percent after adjusting for inflation.

That combination matters.

A family can own valuable land while the economics of farming, leasing, maintaining, financing, or transferring that property become more difficult.

For ACRES KEPT, that is September’s most important market signal:

Asset value and operating capacity are not the same thing.

What Is Changing?

Farmland remains strong, but real appreciation has slowed

USDA’s 2026 Land Values Summary puts average U.S. farm real estate at $4,500 per acre, up $150 per acre from 2025. Cropland averages $6,020 per acre and pasture averages $2,000 per acre.

But the pace of real appreciation has slowed.

After inflation, farmland values were essentially flat compared with the stronger growth of the previous several years.

That does not suggest a collapse in land values.

It does suggest that owners and prospective buyers should be cautious about assuming that recent appreciation rates will continue indefinitely.

The Southern market is not moving uniformly

The latest USDA figures show meaningful differences across the states most relevant to ACRES KEPT.

• Georgia: 2026 Farm Real Estate Value — $4,950/acre; Change from 2025 — +4.9%
• Alabama: 2026 Farm Real Estate Value — $4,250/acre; Change from 2025 — +2.4%
• Louisiana: 2026 Farm Real Estate Value — $3,950/acre; Change from 2025 — +2.6%
• Mississippi: 2026 Farm Real Estate Value — $3,650/acre; Change from 2025 — +2.0%

Georgia continues to post the strongest broad appreciation among these four states.

Louisiana sits between Alabama and Mississippi, with farm real estate averaging $3,950 per acre, an increase from $3,850 in 2025.

These figures are statewide averages—not property valuations—but they help show that land-market conditions differ meaningfully across the region.

Louisiana deserves a closer look

Louisiana is particularly relevant this month as ACRES KEPT prepares for October engagement in Sicily Island and Catahoula Parish.

USDA reports Louisiana average cropland value at $3,660 per acre, up 2.5 percent from 2025. Irrigated cropland averages $3,800 per acre, compared with $3,600 per acre for non-irrigated cropland.

Louisiana pasture averages $3,600 per acre, up 3.2 percent from 2025.

Those numbers are useful because Louisiana combines several land-market dynamics that can substantially affect property value and stewardship decisions:

• productive row-crop agriculture
• livestock and pasture
• timber
• flood exposure
• drainage and water-management considerations
• rural residential demand
• family land held across generations

The practical question is not simply:

What is Louisiana land worth?

It is:

What type of land is being valued, for what use, and by whom?

That distinction becomes especially important in rural parishes where agricultural productivity, flood risk, access, timber, and family ownership can all influence the same property.

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana require different readings

The four-state comparison becomes even more useful when looking beyond general farm real estate values.

Cropland

USDA reports:

• Georgia: $4,670 per acre
• Alabama: $4,650 per acre
• Mississippi: $4,060 per acre
• Louisiana: $3,660 per acre

Georgia and Alabama remain very close in statewide cropland value.

Mississippi is lower overall, but irrigated cropland is considerably stronger at $4,800 per acre.

Louisiana shows a smaller spread between irrigated and non-irrigated cropland, but irrigated land still commands a premium.

This reinforces a core ACRES KEPT principle:

Price per acre is not enough.

Water, drainage, soils, road access, productive capacity, location, improvements, and permitted use can materially alter what a tract is worth and how useful it may be.

Pasture

USDA reports:

• Georgia: $5,100 per acre
• Alabama: $3,500 per acre
• Louisiana: $3,600 per acre
• Mississippi: $3,310 per acre

The pasture comparison is especially interesting because Louisiana’s pasture value slightly exceeds Alabama’s and remains above Mississippi’s.

That may matter for families evaluating grazing, livestock, recreational, rural-residential, or mixed-use land.

Why Does This Matter?

Strong land values can create a sense of financial security.

And land can indeed represent substantial family wealth.

But wealth tied up in property is different from cash available to pay:

• property taxes
• insurance
• maintenance
• fencing
• drainage
• forestry work
• legal expenses
• estate costs
• debt

A family may therefore be land-rich while still facing real financial pressure.

That distinction becomes especially important when an unsolicited purchase offer arrives.

A sale may solve an immediate liquidity need, but it also permanently converts a long-term family asset into cash.

The question should not simply be:

Is this a good price?

It should also be:

What problem are we trying to solve, and does selling the land best solve it?

What Should Landowners Watch?

Local sales, not just statewide averages

A state average is context.

A property decision requires local evidence.

Watch actual closed transactions involving similar acreage, land use, access, improvements, water conditions, timber, and development pressure.

Carrying costs

Understand what the property costs the family each year to retain.

Include:

• taxes
• insurance
• fencing
• road maintenance
• drainage
• mowing
• forestry work
• legal services
• debt

Productive income

Compare the property’s value with what it actually produces through:

• agricultural leases
• grazing
• timber
• crops
• hunting or recreation
• conservation arrangements
• other lawful uses

A highly valued property may still generate relatively little annual income.

Flood and drainage considerations

This deserves special attention in Louisiana.

Floodplain location, drainage capacity, water-control infrastructure, levees, and historical flooding can materially affect both value and use.

These characteristics should be investigated before a family evaluates an offer or a steward evaluates an acquisition.

Buyer activity

Pay attention to who is showing interest.

Are inquiries coming from:

• neighboring farmers
• timber operators
• investors
• developers
• recreational buyers
• rural-residential buyers
• conservation organizations
• other families

Who is buying can reveal what the market is beginning to value.

What Should Prospective Stewards Watch?

September reinforces the distinction between purchase capacity and ownership capacity.

A lender’s willingness to finance a property does not establish that the property is sustainable.

Model:

• purchase price
• debt service
• taxes
• insurance
• equipment
• roads
• fencing
• drainage
• utilities
• operating capital
• maintenance
• reserves

In Louisiana and other Delta-region markets, prospective stewards should also pay particular attention to:

• flood exposure
• drainage
• water availability
• irrigation
• soil suitability
• crop history
• access
• insurance implications

Then ask:

Can this property still be carried if revenue is delayed or expenses rise?

A stewardship plan should survive more than the best-case scenario.

The ACRES KEPT Perspective

September’s market provides an important reminder:

The value on a balance sheet is not the same as the ability to sustain the land.

Families should not mistake a strong valuation for a completed stewardship strategy.

Prospective stewards should not mistake appreciation for a guarantee that any acquisition will become financially sustainable.

The stronger approach is to understand four separate questions:

What is the land worth?

What does it cost to hold?

What can it realistically produce?

What does the family or steward need it to accomplish?

Those are different questions.

And they should be answered before a sale, lease, transfer, or acquisition becomes urgent.

ACRES KEPT members can continue into the September Member Analysis & Decision Guide for four-state comparisons, Louisiana market context, land-value-to-income considerations, sale-versus-retention questions, acquisition stress testing, and guided preparation for the decisions ahead.