National Pork Board
The average acre of farmland in Iowa, the top corn-growing state, is worth $7,559, an increase of 1.7% from 2019, despite the effects of the pandemic and the accompanying economic slowdown, said Iowa State University on Tuesday. It was the second year in a row of modest increases, but land values remain $1,157 below their 2013 peak hit during the commodity boom.
Assistant professor Wendong Zhang said large government payments, low interest rates, a rally in commodity prices and the limited supply of land on the market resulted in higher land values. In nearly three of every four sales this year, the buyer was a farmer. The estimate of land values is based on an annual ISU survey of real estate brokers, farm managers, lenders, appraisers, county assessors, and other experts.