USDA: Agricultural land values jump 7%

The Land Values 2021 Summary report, released last Friday by the Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), shows farm land values increasing at the largest rate since 2012.

The U.S. average farm real estate value, a measurement that includes the value of all land and buildings on farms, is a record $3,380 per acre – a $220 per-acre increase over 2020.

“These levels vary significantly throughout the country, with the highest real estate values concentrated in areas with larger volumes of high-value crops, as well as areas experiencing upward pressure due to proximity to urban areas. So far, the increases in land values have not yet been reflected in cash rents, with the national average cropland rent increasing by 1.4% compared to last year,” the American Farm Bureau’s Market Intel service said in an analysis of the report.

–The Hagstrom Report