In addition to the Cash Rent Report that we discussed last week, the USDA also published its yearly Land Values Summary earlier this month.  This survey looks at land prices and values nationwide.  To view the full report, click here.

Farm Real Estate Value

First up is the farm real estate value, which looks at the value of all land and buildings on farms.  A farm is defined as “any establishment from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold or would normally be sold during the year.”  Nationwide, this measure fell $10/acre (about .3) percent from last year, landing at $3,010 per acre.  Not surprisingly, the highest farm real estate values were found in the mid-west, deemed the Corn Belt Region in the USDA report, at $6,290/acre.  In Texas, the farm real estate value actually increased about 1%, settling at $1,960/acre.

Average Cropland Value

Across the country, the average cropland value decreased 1% from $4,130/acre in 2015 to $4,090/acre this year.  In Texas, however, values increased by about 2.7%, resulting in an average of $1,890/acre.

The report also broke cropland values down into irrigated versus non-irrigated.  In Texas, the value of irrigated cropland in 2016 was $2,050 per acre (no change from 2015) and for non-irrigated cropland, $1,860/acre (up 3.3% from last year).

Average Pasture Value

Average pastureland value nationwide remained constant at $1,330/acre.  Following that trend, Texas values remained steady at $1,600/acre.

Summary

Although land value was generally down across the nation, in Texas, values actually increased over the last year.  My friend Terry Griffin at Kansas State University prepared this chart to illustrate changes in Texas land values over the past two decades.