Illinois farmland values continue upward spiral

The prices being paid for farmland across Illinois continue their upward spiral with the tops being in the $10,000 to $13,000 per acre range across the state. This is according to the 2012 Farmland Values and Lease Trends Report released in March by the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

The top price of $13,000 per acre was for a November 2011 sale of 37.7 acres in Christian County. Sales in the $10,000 per acre range were common across a number of regions in the state. A good part of this tremendous move in Illinois crop land values is based on increasing farm income returns, and expectations of strong income into the future, says Don McCabe, AFM, general chairman of the Land Values Survey and Conference.

Respondents indicated that farmland values increased between 20 and 21 percent across land classes during 2011, says Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois.

Yearly increases in land prices have averaged 6.7 percent across all of Illinois between 1970 and 2011. But yearly increases have averaged 12 percent from 2005 to 2011.

Rents have also increased. For excellent quality farmland, rents increased $60 per acre from $319 per acre in 2011 to $379 per acre in 2012.

For more information go to www.ispfmra.org.