The average value of agricultural cropland sits at $4,100 per acre in 2020. That’s unchanged from last year but in line with recent record highs seen in 2019 and 2015. USDA’s 2020 Land Values report says the average value of cropland, including all land and buildings on farms, was $3,160 per acre in 2020. That’s unchanged from 2019’s record high.
The average value for pastureland was $1,400 an acre this year, unchanged from 2019. Cash rental rates for cropland averaged $139 per acre in 2020, down a dollar an acre from 2019.
Agricultural land values were the highest in the Northeastern states. Densely-populated urban areas like Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, represent four of the top five states in terms of average agricultural land values. California rounds out the top five. Outside of urban areas, agricultural land values were highest through the Corn Belt, the Great Lakes region, the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest.
Through the Corn Belt, agricultural land values were highest in Illinois at $7,400 an acre, followed by Iowa at $7,100 an acre. Western states with both a higher concentration of livestock feeding operations and a high percentage of pastureland had lower average agricultural land values.
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)