US Farmland Values Continue to Increase
USDA released their annual Land Value summary on August 4 and they continue to show farmland values going up.
USDA released their annual land value summary for 2023 on August 4. The bottom line is that values continue their upward trend.
Land values averaged $4,080 per acre up $280 (7.4%) from 2022. Cropland values were at $5,460 per acre up 8.1% and pasture values were at $1,760 per acre up $110 or 6.7%.
Land values have almost doubled since 2009 ($2,090), however, they were essentially flat from 2015 through 2020. In the last three years land values have increased almost 30%.
The averages for Iowa, Illinois and Indiana are now all over $9,000 an acre with Indiana alone up 13.9% this year to $9,100 per acre.
California still retains the highest overall value at $12,400 per acre for major ag states. Rhode Island takes the high value at $18,300 but I doubt if there is much farmland in Rhode Island since the state is smaller than most counties in any of the farm states.
Iowa cropland value has now gone over $10,000 on average at $10,100. Although I find it hard to believe that the average farmland value for Indiana is $9,100 per acre but cropland value is only $8,400 per acre. I think USDA should let us know how that can happen.
Average increases for the corn belt were 7.1%, the Northern Plains was 13.7%, while the Delta States only saw a 1.8% increase.
Total farmland values for the US are about $3.272 trillion. Texas leads with $334 billion; California is second at $288 billion; and Iowa is right behind at $286 billion.
The bottom line is even with increases in interest rates, farmland values continue to increase. We will see if the trend starts to level off next year.