116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa farmland prices, cash rent rise
George C. Ford
Aug. 12, 2014 4:00 pm
The average value of an acre of Iowa farmland rose in the first half of this year and the amount of cash rent paid by farmers to lease land for crop production also increased.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Iowa's farm real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, averaged $8,500 per acre in 2014. That's up $800 per acre or 10 percent higher than last year's level.
Cropland value increased 9 percent from last year to $8,750 per acre. Pastureland, at $3,400 per acre, increased 6 percent from a year ago.
Cash rent paid to Iowa landlords in 2014 averaged $260 per acre, down from $270 per acre in 2013, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Iowa Field Office. Non-irrigated cropland rent averaged $260 per acre, up $5 from a year earlier.
Irrigated cropland rent averaged $255 per acre, an increase of $10 from last year. Pasture rented for cash, which averaged $50 per acre, is up $1 from the previous year.
The USDA plans to release county level averages for 2014 cash rents on Sept. 5.
Iowa farmers paid $29.8 billion for production expenditures in 2013, up 2.9 percent from 2012, according to the USDA.
Feed expense, which rose 2.2 percent to $5.05 billion, represented the largest single production expense for Iowa farmers in 2013. It accounted for 16.9 percent of the total.
Livestock and poultry purchases were the second-largest expense, totaling $4.53 billion and 15.2 percent of the total. The figure was 13.5 percent higher than in 2012.
Rent expense rose 4.3 percent to $4.11 billion in 2013, and accounted for 13.8 percent of the total expenditures for production.