The average value of farmland, including all land and buildings, dipped $10 this year to $3,010 per acre, the first such decline in the U.S. since the recession of 2009, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reported in its annual Land Values Summary. Land values have been pressured by booming harvests and falling crop prices.
Regional changes in the average value of farm real estate ranged from a 3.3-percent increase in the Pacific region to a 4.3-percent decrease in the Northern Plains region, the report said. In the Plains states, Kansas saw a 7.4-percent decline and North Dakota registered a 4.7-percent drop in average farmland values.
Cropland values fell $40 to $4,090 per acre from the previous year, also the first decline since 2009. In the Southeast region, the average cropland value increased 4 percent from 2015. However, in the Northern Plains region, cropland value declined 5.4 percent, the USDA said. Pasture values remained constant at $1,330 per acre.
Rhode Island had the highest average value of farmland real estate in the nation at $13,800 an acre, while New Mexico had the lowest average at $500 an acre. California’s was the highest in the Pacific region at $6,900 an acre.