Farmland values in Iowa have dipped for the second year in a row according to the U.S.D.A.
The U.S.D.A.’s National Agricultural Statistics Services estimates the average price for Iowa “cropland” is now $8,000 an acre. That’s a nearly 2.5 percent decline from 2015. Experts say the drop is fueled by low commodity prices.
The average price for Iowa land used as pasture for livestock is $3,400, unchanged from a year ago.
A spring survey of realtors who sell Iowa farmland indicated a bigger drop in the price for Iowa cropland, of nearly nine percent.
The U.S.D.A.’s report concluded the total value for farm real estate in Iowa is $244 trillion. That’s the value of all the agland as well as the barns and farmhouses in Iowa.
The rental price for cropland in Iowa averaged $235 an acre for this growing season. That’s down 15 dollars an acre from a year ago.