Hunter
12/19/24
Iowa State University’s annual Land Value Survey says lower crop prices and high interest rates caused the average value of farmland in the state to drop for the first time in five years.
The Gazette reports the survey found cropland still is expensive and overpriced at an average of about $11,500 per acre, but average values declined about 3 percent from last year’s record.
Rabail Chandio is an ISU Extension economist who presented the findings,. He said the drop erased a modest gain in prices from 2023 following spikes of 29 percent and 17 percent in 2021 and 2022.
The most valuable farmland is in O’Brien County, located in northwest Iowa. They had the highest average corn yield of any Iowa county last year, and prices average nearly $16,000 an acre.
The least valuable is in Appanoose County, near the southern border. Their corn yield was about 21 percent less that O’Brien’s, and land values there are about $6800 per acre.
Johnson County average land value per acre was determined to be $13,112; Linn County was slightly higher at $13,262.