Agricultural Land Market Values Decline; Syngenta, ChemChina and Monsanto Merger.

Farmers National Company predicts a softer agricultural land market will continue in 2016, with values for high-quality land holding steadier while lower quality land values decline. Still, despite lower land values scattered across many regions, land values, in general, will remain historically high when compared to long-term trends, according to the nation's leading farm and ranch real estate company. A company official says lower grain and livestock prices are an important factor in the current measured decline in land values, adding that they expect to see the trend continue as net farm income continues to fall.

While the two companies may be inching closer to an agreement, a group of Syngenta shareholders oppose a merger with ChemChina. The group called for the ousting of the Swiss companies leadership at the next annual meeting. Syngenta Chairman Michel Demare said last week Syngenta was in talks about a possible merger and was weighing several options, including ChemChina and Monsanto. Reuters reported that Syngenta’s board of directors voted in favor of pursuing advanced takeover talks with ChemChina last week.