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Iowa farmland values up for first time in three years

A turnaround in Iowa farmland values is expected to be short-lived and confined mostly to the state’s borders.

A new survey released by Iowa State University shows the average acre of Iowa farmland rose in value by 2 percent in 2017, the first increase in three years.

ISU economics professor Wendong Zhang, who led the study, calls the increase modest and considers it a temporary break in a continued decline.

“The two biggest factors driving this are the limited land supply in Iowa and stronger-than-expected yields (this fall).”

He tells Brownfield the reversal in farmland values this year isn’t happening outside of Iowa.

“All the other surrounding states like Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska, the farmland values are still declining.”

The Iowa State survey calculated an average farmland value of just over $7,300 dollars-per-acre for 2017.

Iowa land values peaked at more than $8,700 dollars in 2013.