Minding Ag's Business

Midwest Land Surprisingly Steady

Iowa farmland values bottomed in April and will end on a high note. Other Midwest states are steady.

Don't be misled by news of "no sales" at auctions across the Midwest. Prices for low-quality land may be in the dumps, but good and excellent quality farmland seems to be retaining or even gaining in value so far. That's based on analysis of actual sales transactions in four Midwest states, according to the Peak Soil Indexes. The firm currently records arms-length transactions in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana, but will be adding more states in the near future.

"Good" quality Iowa farmland actually nudged up about 4.8% through November 2015 to $8,448/acre and had only dipped about 8% since its 2013 high, according to Peak Soils. Meanwhile average Indiana farmland values slipped 4% through November, select Minnesota cropland counties ended with no change and select cropland counties in Wisconsin gained 1.3%. The indexes include private transactions which never hit real estate listings, as well as auctioned and listed property.

Follow Marcia Taylor on Twitter@MarciaZTaylor

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