Reuters' Amy Lv and Naveen Thukral reported at the end of last week that "global trading house Cargill will undergo structural changes after missing internal earnings goals, with plans to…
US Cropland Values Up 37% Since 2020
FERN’s Ag Insider reported Monday that “U.S. cropland is worth an average of $5,570 an acre, an increase of $1,510, or 37 percent, since 2020, said the USDA’s annual Land Values report. The surge in land values accompanied the four highest years of net farm income, a gauge of profitability, for American farmers.”
“The USDA said cropland value rose by $250 an acre, or 4.5% from 2023,” FERN’s reported. “It was the smallest increase since value began to rise in 2021, after six years of stability.”
“California cropland was worth $17,330 an acre, the highest average value in the country,” FERN’s reported. “Three Corn Belt states had land values above $9,000 an acre: Illinois, $9,550; Iowa, $9,800; and Ohio, $9,270.”
Progressive Farmer’s Katie Dehlinger and Chris Clayton reported that, in addition to the increased value of U.S. cropland, “the average pasture value was $1,830 per acre, a $90 per acre increase from 2023. That’s a 5.2% change. Farmers paid an average of $160 per acre to rent cropland, but rents on irrigated ground averaged $245 per acre while dryland rents averaged $146 per acre.”
Cropland and Pastureland Value by State
Dehlinger and Clayton reported that “most states saw cropland values increase. The exceptions are Colorado, down 2.1%; Montana, down 0.8%; and New Jersey, down 0.6%. Tennessee saw the largest year-over-year increase at 10.9%, and USDA noted that Appalachian states (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia) saw the highest average increase over the past year at 8.4%.”
“In the Corn Belt (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio), cropland values climbed by an average of 4.5% to $8,560,” Dehlinger and Clayton reported. “The average cropland value in the Northern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota) was $4,040 per acre, an increase of 6.6%. Lake states (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin) saw an average price increase of 4.2% to $6,470.”
“Pasture values increased in all states surveyed by USDA. Double-digit percentage gains were seen in Minnesota, up 13.9%; Virginia, 13.6%; Florida, 12.7%; New Mexico, 11.3%; and Iowa, 10.4%,” Dehlinger and Clayton reported. “The strongest regional gain was in the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina). An acre of pasture cost an average of $5,510, or 10.6% more than in 2023. Prices in the Northern Plains climbed 6.6% to $1,450 per acre, while Southern Plains states (Oklahoma, Texas) saw values increase 6.4% to $2,160 per acre.”
