The average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa reached $4,468 in 2009, continuing to increase for the ninth year in a row, according to an annual survey conducted by Iowa State University Extension. Mike Duffy, ISU Extension farm economist who conducts the survey, said the indicators toward the end of the year imply the upward trend may be slowing as the national economy battles recessionary pressures.
The 2008 average was an increase of $560 over last year, the second-highest dollar increase ever recorded in the 67 years that ISU has conducted the survey. The 2007 survey reported a $704 increase over the previous year. The 2008 figure was an increase of 14 percent over 2007, compared with a 22 percent increase last year. Over the past 40 years, the survey has found annual changes ranging from an increase in value of 31.9 percent in 1973 to a loss of 30.2 percent in 1985.
Data on farmland sales have been collected by Iowa State University annually since 1941. About 1,100 copies of the survey are mailed each year to licensed real estate brokers, ag lenders and others knowledgeable of Iowa land values. Respondents are asked to report values as of Nov. 1. This year, 479 usable surveys were returned, providing 625 individual county estimates, including land values in nearby counties if they had knowledge of values in those counties.
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Farm Survey
2009 Land Survey
11/2/2009