Survey: Iowa farmland tops $3,500 an acre

December 19, 2006
Des Moines Register

The demand for corn is pushing up prices of Iowa farmland to record highs, an Iowa State University Extension study says today.

The average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa increased $290, or 10 percent, to an all-time high of $3,204 in 2006, said Mike Duffy, ISU Extension farm economist. This is the fourth year in a row with a new record high.

The 2006 average value was the first time the price topped $3,000. The value topped a previous record of $2,914 reported last year. Duffy said values increased in all 99 counties in Iowa, with seven counties topping $4,000 an acre. Scott County hit out at $5,073 per acre, the highest ever recorded in the history of the survey.

Duffy attributed the increases to the runup in grain prices. The demand for ethanol and exports has pushed corn prices over $3 a bushel. The need for corn has also increased land values and rents, Duffy said.

For the first time in several years, the percentage of land sales to existing farmers, rather than non-farmer investors, increased this year.

Duffy cited key differences from the 1970s, when land values increased rapidly but crashed in the 1980s.

“The increases we are seeing today are coming at a time when Iowa land values have been increasing fairly steadily over the past several years,” he said in a statement. “Since 2000 Iowa land values have increased $1,347 per acre on average or a 73 percent increase. This is a substantial increase, to be sure, but it is no where near the over 125 percent increase in values from 1972 to 1975.”

Values increased in all 99 Iowa counties and topped $1,400 an acre in every county for the first time since ISU began conducting the survey in 1941. Here’s a breakdown of the land values:

By Crop Reporting District:
2006 2005 2005-2006 Change
District $/acre $/acre $ %
Northwest 3,783 3,393 391 11.5%
North Central 3,478 3,222 256 7.9%
Northeast 3,187 2,963 224 7.6%
West Central 3,410 3,048 362 11.9%
Central 3,716 3,415 301 8.8%
East Central 3,725 3,396 329 9.7%
Southwest 2,580 2,350 231 9.8%
South Central 1,927 1,793 134 7.5%
Southeast 2,849 2,483 366 14.7%
State Average 3,204 2,914 290 10.0%

By County:
2006 2005 2005–2006
County Name $/acre $/acre $ Change % Change
Adair 2,198 2,020 179 8.8%
Adams 2,203 1,952 251 12.9%
Allamakee 2,126 1,978 148 7.5%
Appanoose 1,564 1,455 109 7.5%
Audubon 3,311 2,824 487 17.2%
Benton 3,619 3,314 305 9.2%
Black Hawk 3,952 3,636 316 8.7%
Boone 3,917 3,597 320 8.9%
Bremer 3,621 3,345 276 8.3%
Buchanan 3,562 3,289 273 8.3%
Buena Vista 3,914 3,555 359 10.1%
Butler 3,458 3,191 267 8.4%
Calhoun 3,958 3,626 332 9.2%
Carroll 3,581 3,307 274 8.3%
Cass 2,950 2,610 339 13.0%
Cedar 4,012 3,667 346 9.4%
Cerro Gordo 3,567 3,302 265 8.0%
Cherokee 3,581 3,186 395 12.4%
Chickasaw 2,909 2,746 163 5.9%
Clarke 1,811 1,607 205 12.7%
Clay 3,612 3,281 331 10.1%
Clayton 2,919 2,716 203 7.5%
Clinton 3,285 3,157 128 4.1%
Crawford 3,254 2,880 375 13.0%
Dallas 3,385 3,167 219 6.9%
Davis 1,956 1,676 280 16.7%
Decatur 1,465 1,321 144 10.9%
Delaware 3,866 3,494 372 10.6%
Des Moines 3,179 2,947 232 7.9%
Dickinson 3,404 3,049 355 11.6%
Dubuque 3,513 3,267 245 7.5%
Emmet 3,721 3,380 341 10.1%
Fayette 3,337 3,032 305 10.1%
Floyd 3,320 3,058 263 8.6%
Franklin 3,518 3,273 245 7.5%
Fremont 2,832 2,588 244 9.4%
Greene 3,470 3,154 316 10.0%
Grundy 3,996 3,759 237 6.3%
Guthrie 2,963 2,643 320 12.1%
Hamilton 4,097 3,785 312 8.2%
Hancock 3,592 3,344 248 7.4%
Hardin 3,667 3,387 279 8.2%
Harrison 3,093 2,756 337 12.2%
Henry 3,073 2,812 261 9.3%
Howard 2,621 2,422 199 8.2%
Humboldt 3,873 3,600 273 7.6%
Ida 3,668 3,243 425 13.1%
Iowa 3,131 2,708 423 15.6%
Jackson 2,931 2,724 207 7.6%
Jasper 3,301 2,924 376 12.9%
Jefferson 2,375 2,099 276 13.1%
Johnson 3,911 3,473 438 12.6%
Jones 3,147 3,059 88 2.9%
Keokuk 2,836 2,460 376 15.3%
Kossuth 3,707 3,456 251 7.3%
Lee 2,893 2,620 273 10.4%
Linn 3,983 3,661 322 8.8%
Louisa 3,413 2,918 495 17.0%
Lucas 1,672 1,555 117 7.5%
Lyon 3,447 3,088 360 11.6%
Madison 2,644 2,427 218 9.0%
Mahaska 2,963 2,619 344 13.1%
Marion 2,925 2,563 363 14.2%
Marshall 3,433 3,303 130 3.9%
Mills 3,095 2,714 381 14.0%
Mitchell 3,252 2,995 257 8.6%
Monona 2,838 2,492 346 13.9%
Monroe 1,981 1,718 263 15.3%
Montgomery 2,630 2,404 227 9.4%
Muscatine 3,647 3,311 336 10.1%
O’Brien 4,255 3,811 444 11.6%
Osceola 3,640 3,261 380 11.6%
Page 2,372 2,206 166 7.5%
Palo Alto 3,525 3,248 277 8.5%
Plymouth 3,830 3,386 444 13.1%
Pocahontas 3,830 3,547 283 8.0%
Polk 3,487 3,180 307 9.6%
Pottawattamie 3,294 2,973 321 10.8%
Poweshiek 3,124 2,767 358 12.9%
Ringgold 1,726 1,494 232 15.5%
Sac 3,824 3,425 399 11.6%
Scott 5,073 4,707 366 7.8%
Shelby 3,287 2,925 363 12.4%
Sioux 4,063 3,617 446 12.3%
Story 4,021 3,679 342 9.3%
Tama 3,320 3,015 305 10.1%
Taylor 1,948 1,791 157 8.8%
Union 2,085 1,927 158 8.2%
Van Buren 2,159 1,850 309 16.7%
Wapello 2,237 2,056 180 8.8%
Warren 2,935 2,716 219 8.1%
Washington 3,624 3,144 480 15.3%
Wayne 1,596 1,485 111 7.5%
Webster 4,040 3,732 308 8.3%
Winnebago 3,238 3,013 224 7.4%
Winneshiek 2,720 2,522 198 7.8%
Woodbury 3,014 2,650 364 13.7%
Worth 3,268 3,025 243 8.0%
Wright 3,988 3,707 281 7.6%

Additional information on the 2006 survey is available on the ISU Extension Web site at www.extension.iastate.edu/landvalue/