Survey shows farmland values continuing in downward trend

GRUNDY COUNTY – Late last month, Iowa State University released their annual Farmland Value Survey for 2016, which indicated a third year of declines in farmland values in Grundy County and across the state.
In 2016, farmland values dropped an average of 5.9 percent across the state, with prices dropping from $7,633 per acre to $7,183 per acre. Here in Grundy County, land values fell 6.8 percent, from $9,183 per acre in 2015 to $8,552 in 2016.
Across the state, this year’s decline of 5.9 percent was larger than the 3.9 percent downturn in 2015 but smaller than the 8.9 percent downturn in 2014.
Although many farmland owners remain unoptimistic about values for 2017, Wendong Zhang, an Associate Professor in Economics at Iowa State University and author of this year’s ISU farmland values survey, says that the decline is not a doomsday scenario.
“It was widely accepted among farmers and landowners at the start of 2016 that commodity prices, farm income, and profit margin probably wouldn’t improve much over the year, and arguably the farmland market has already capitalized these expectations,” Zhang wrote in his report. “Therefore, the downward pressures did not cause a panic market reaction. To some extent, this farm downturn, although continuing, is slowing down in its downslide.”
For the full story, see the January 7 edition of The Grundy Register.