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10
Iowa Cropland Values Are Stable
The Land Trends and Value Survey, presented by the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter #2 REALTORS Land Institute, reported a 3.1% decrease in value on a statewide average for the September 2023 to March 2024 time period. This is following the March 2023 to September 2023 time period that showed a 0.2% decrease, giving us a 12-month decrease of 3 .3% for the State of Iowa on tillable acres. After a period of rapidly increasing values, the tillable land market has leveled off and softened slightly. Pastureland (down 2.2%) and Timberland (down 2.2%) followed the trend of tillable acres and saw small decreases for the six-month period as well.
Survey respondents described the market as being "tentative" and "selective" but "surprisingly stable". There continues to be a lower supply of land offered to the market, helping to hold values despite lower net farm incomes vs recent years. Local farmer buyers continue to be the most active in the market as investor interest is slowing.
"The recent survey reflects the leveling of the land market we experienced in the last year due to the higher interest environment and lower commodity price trends" said Eric Schlutz, ALC, Realtor, and manager of the Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors Muscatine Office.
"Farmland values have taken a pause in the upward growth that we experienced over the past several years. In our area of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois the market is best described as being stable with demand for land still considered to be good especially for top quality, highly tillable parcels. However, in general the supply of available land for sale is very low and transactions are less than a year ago, thereby giving some support to values. It isn't surprising that growth in farmland values have slowed given the increased interest rates and lower current prices for commodities experienced this past several months. This will be an interesting marketing year for land as we see if land for sale remains tight and if buyer demand remains good based on what interest rates do and what farm incomes will be further into this year" said Dennis Stolk, ALC, Farm and Land Specialist with Ruhl Farm&Land.
For the survey, participants are asked to estimate the average value of farmland as of March 1, 2024. These estimates are for bare, unimproved land with a sale price on a cash basis. Pasture and timberland values were also requested as supplemental information.
Ruhl Farm&Land, a division of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, is focused on the sale, purchase and marketing of land, farms and acreages.
Iowa |
High-Quality Crop Land |
Medium-Quality Crop Land |
Low-Quality Crop Land |
% Change in Tillable Cropland |
Non-Tillable Pasture |
Timber Per Acre |
| East Central | 15,355/acre | 12,403/acre | 8,437/acre | -3.0% | 4,877/acre | 4,545/acre |
| Northeast | 15,224 | 11,864 | 8,422 | -4.8% | 4,859 | 4,930 |
| Southeast | 14,524 | 10,293 | 6,893 | -2.2% | 4,588 | 4,183 |
