DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmland values have jumped about 18 percent in the last year, according to a survey released last week.
The survey, conducted by the Realtors Land Institute, found that high quality farmland was selling for an average of $5,223 per acre across the state in March 2008. That’s up from $4,313 in March 2007.
Troy Louwagie, a trends and values chairman with the institute, said a host of factors had pushed prices higher, including increased demands by the ethanol industry, high yields and limited land on the market. He said some of the price increase is here to stay.
function photoFull (URL) {
day = new Date();
id = day.getTime();
eval("page" + id + " = window.open(URL, '" + id + "', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=0,width=510,height=510,left = 137,top = 84');");
}
“We’re definitely at a new plateau,” Louwagie said. “The real question is what will commodity prices do? If they stay level or increase, we’ve got even more room for some growth. If they drop a bit maybe we have seen our top.”
Over the last five years, the average price per acre of farmland in Iowa has increased 67 percent.
During the last year, the price of farmland has appreciated by double digits in each of the nine regions that the institute tracks. The largest increase was in northwest Iowa, which climbed 21.2 percent. The lowest was in north central Iowa, where prices increased by 14.5 percent in the last year.
The numbers have exceeded expectations again, Louwagie said. Six months ago he predicted that prices would begin to level off.
“This is really about crop prices,” he said. “Corn prices and soybean prices have stayed high so the land is more valuable.”
