ISU Land Value Survey Shows Slight Decline

(Le Mars) — Land values across the state have declined slightly, although in northwest Iowa, land values have remained steady to showing a slight increase.  That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Iowa State University.  Melissa O’Rourke is a farm management specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.  She says the study does show a decrease of about four percent in land values.  O’Rourke says it was not surprising to see a drop in the land values, given the fact that farm income is lower, but she says the surprise was how little the farmland values did go down.

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O’Rourke says the average price of land per acre across the state was listed at $7,633 per acre.  She says as noted earlier, northwest Iowa saw an increase in land values.

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Scott county has the highest valued farmground, but O’Rourke points out that O’Brien County in northwest Iowa, is also among the highest priced land in the state.

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The Iowa State University Farm Management Specialist says Sioux County’s land value remained statistically steady and unchanged.

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Sioux County’s land value went from an average of $10,817 in 2014 to $10,813 in 2015.