Herald-Whig (Quincy, Ill., Sept. 3) – Prices being paid for farmland as well as sales activity have flattened during the first half of 2017, with a trend that will apparently continue for the balance of the year, a survey says. “There was a very slight drop in farmland values, only 1.6 percent for excellent quality land, in the first half of 2017, with most respondents indicating this trend will continue through the balance of the year,” says Gary Schnitkey, a professor of agriculture and consumer economics at Illinois.