Iowa farmland values soar 32.5 percent

The value of Iowa farmland soared 32.5 percent to an average $6,708 per acre from November 2010 to last month as farm income continues to rise, according to an Iowa State University survey released Wednesday.

The increase matches results of other recent surveys of Iowa farmland value -- the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank's estimated 31 percent increase in Iowa land values and the Iowa Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute's 32.6 percent recorded between Sept. 1, 2010, and Sept. 1, 2011.

Mike Duffy, Iowa State University economics professor and extension farm management economist, said the survey "covers  one of the most remarkable years in Iowa land value history."

“This is the highest percentage increase recorded by the survey, and the average land value of $6,708 per acre, when adjusted for inflation, is at an all-time high," Duffy said. The previous inflation-adjusted high was set in 1979.

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