Tuesday, June 14, 2011

As farmland values rise, so does investor interest

The value of U.S. farmland is on the rise, according to several regional Federal Reserve Bank reports. The Chicago branch reported a 16 percent "year-over-year increase in farmland values in in the first quarter of 2011," and the Kansas City branch reported that in the fourth quarter of 2010, Midwestern cropland values jumped almost 20 percent above year-ago levels."

Rising commodity prices and low interest rates have led to the increased demand for farmland, leading to a 30 percent decrease in the amount of farmland for sale, Lee Vermeer, vice president of real estate operations at Farmers National Co., told The Sun-Times in Heber Springs, Ark.

In Arkansas "75 to 85 percent of land buyers continue to be farmers," Vermeer said, but there is growing interest from outside investors. Keith Morris, area sales manager for Farmers National in Arkansas, southern Missouri, western Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, told the Sun that in his region, half the land buyers are investors. (Read more)

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