At his 2019 Iowa State University Land Value Survey press conference Wednesday, Dec. 11, Wendong Zhang, assistant professor for CARD, announced that Iowa farmland value grew 2.3% in 2019, barely exceeding inflation. The press conference, held at 10 a.m. in the Horton Room of the ISU Alumni Center, was also livestreamed on YouTube at http://bit.ly/LandResults2019
According to the annual survey conducted in November by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, 2019 was a difficult year for farmers. The planting season saw an overabundance of rain and delayed planting, the United States’ trade war with China persisted, skewing both commodity prices and demand, and farm bankruptcies rose to the highest level since 2011. However, favorable interest rates, strong yields, and limited land supply combined to help drive Iowa’s farmland values up for only the second time in six years. The statewide value of an acre of farmland is now estimated to be $7,432, which represents an increase of 2.3 percent, or $168, since 2018.
“The reprieve in the land market, unfortunately, is not driven by a much stronger farm economy,” said Zhang, who is responsible for leading the annual Iowa Land Value Survey. “This recent modest increase in land values reflects a lower interest rate environment and slowly improving US farm income. However, we are still faced with significant uncertainty, especially the ongoing US-China trade war, which has significantly affected US agricultural exports, especially soybean exports, and lead to lower commodity prices and weaker farm income,” Zhang said.