DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The average value of Iowa farmland declined 6 percent over the past year, or about $400 an acre, and this is the first time those values have dropped for three years in a row since the 1980s farm crisis.
Iowa State University estimates that Iowa farmland is now worth about $7,183 per acre on average, compared to last year’s average of $7,633.
The sharpest decline occurred in west-central Iowa where farmland values dropped more than eight percent.
Lower commodity prices have lead to the decline in farmland values.
Gary Wright is the farm management specialist for northwest Iowa through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. He says he wasn’t too surprised with the drop in land values.
Wright says other investors are taking a look at any available land that comes up for sale.
Iowa State University economics professor Wendong Zhang says
the state is unlikely to see another crisis soon because farmers are generally in better financial shape.
Most Iowa farmers increased their financial reserves during the boom that preceded the current drop in crop prices. And Zhang says government safety nets are better than they were in the 1980s and interest rates remain low.
Plus, the overall debt level for farmers remains lower.
The highest priced average farmland was located within northwest Iowa
Only three counties had an average farmland price that exceeded ten thousand dollars an acre. They include: Sioux at $10,066…O’Brien with an average of $10,194…and Scott county, located along the Mississippi River in east-central
Iowa topped the state with an average farmland value of $10,335 per acre.
South-central Iowa is the region with the lowest priced farmland with Wayne at $3,664…Appanoose county with an average of $3,609…and Decatur county with the lowest farmland price in the state with an average of $3,443.
In Plymouth County, the average price for farmland dropped from $9,804 in 2015 to now with an average price of $9,057 per acre.
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