Farmland Values on a Rocket Ship

By: Cary Estes

The demand for productive agricultural land nationwide has accelerated at a pace not seen in years. As a result, real estate values for farmland, cropland, and pastureland increased over the last 12 months throughout much of the nation. Those are a few of the conclusions of a recently updated annual report from the Department of Agriculture.

According to the National Agricultural Statistical Survey (NASS) Land Values 2021 Summary, farm real estate values – a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on U.S. farms – averaged $3,380 per acre for 2021. That’s up $220 per acre (7%) from 2020. Cropland values averaged $4,420 per acre, an increase of $320 per acre, or 7.8%. Rangeland, the largest component from an acreage standpoint of the three, jumped 5.7%. The average value of an acre of pastureland came in at $1,480 per acre, an increase of $80 per acre.