S.D's land value percentage increase tops nation
Source: Sioux City Journal
August 18, 2008
WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's 20.7 percent increase in farmland value this year led the nation, according to the Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
South Dakota farm real estate averaged $990 an acre on Jan. 1, an increase of $170 an acre from a year earlier.
The Agricultural Statistics Service says values of agricultural land and buildings have increased for 15 consecutive years in the state.
Farmland values in South Dakota are record high and have doubled in the past five years.
The national average price for farm real estate is $2,350 an acre, an increase of 9 percent from January 2007.
The average value of an acre of farmland in 2008 in South Dakota ranged from less than $550 an acre in some West River counties to $3,862 an acre in Minnehaha County.
