Iowa farmland values up 31 percent in last year, Chicago Fed survey finds

As a Chicago Fed conference on ag land values got under way today, new data released by the Fed reinforced how much there is to talk about.

The year over year increase in cropland values in the third quarter of 2011 was  a stunning 31 percent in Iowa and 25 percent in the Chicago Fed's region as a whole, according to the quarterly Agricultural Newsletter released by the Chicago Fed this morning.

The 25 percent increase for the district was the biggest year over year gain since 1977  - over three decades. The district's farmland values surged 7 percent from the second quarter, which ended June 30, to the third quarter, which ended Sept. 28, matching the highest previous quarterly gain since 1977.

The Chicago Fed district includes all of Iowa, plus the southern Wisconsin, most of Michigan, and the northern two-thirds of Illinois and Indiana.

Read more at Business380.com