Illinois Farmland Values in Context
Each year, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers collects representative sales data from all across the state of Illinois, divided into 10 regions based on prominent…
Updated Farmland Values and Indexing Tools – 2017
Each year, the USDA provides extensive data related to farmland values, rental rates, and other indicators of economic performance by county, state, type of agriculture and other meaningful categorizations of…
Illinois Farm Real Estate Values Decrease for Third Straight Year
Each year the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA releases estimated average farm real estate values by state. The estimates are based on surveys of farmers from selected geographical…
The Ongoing Debate over Farmland Taxation
All 50 U.S. states provide some form of preferential tax treatment for agricultural land. These tax policies were adopted state-by-state in response to the rapid loss of farmland associated with…
Weekly Farm Economics
Rising Interest Rates and Farmland Prices
Since the U.S. election on November 8th, interest rates on many financial instruments have increased. Interest rate increases since November 8th likely are not large enough to put much downward…
Slight Decrease in Illinois Farm Real Estate for 2016
Each year the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA releases estimated average farm real estate values by state. The estimates are based on surveys of farmers from selected geographical…
Weekly Farm Economics
2016 Cash Rents and Land Values for Illinois
On August 5th, the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) released estimates of statewide cash rents and farmland values for 2016. For Illinois, the 2016 cash rent was $221 per acre,…
Components of Cropland Value in the Cornbelt
Farmland markets have received a great deal of attention as farm income has come under pressure due to lower and more volatile commodity prices, and as recent actions by the…
IFES 2015: Evaluating Rental Agreements and Land Values with Lower Prices
It is well known that cash rental levels increased considerably throughout Illinois and the entire Corn Belt region from 2006 to 2014. In 2006, the average cropland cash rent in…
Understanding Farmland REITs
The pronounced growth in farm real estate values over the last decade has significantly increased the interest in farm real estate as an investment and led to the development of…
Weekly Farm Economics
2016 Farmland Price Outlook
Farmland prices in Illinois decreased modestly during the first half of 2015, and it appears that downward pressures are likely to continue into 2016. While headwinds related to farm income…
Illinois Farm Real Estate Stable in 2015
Each year the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA releases estimated average farm real estate values by state. The estimates are based on surveys of farmers from selected geographical…
The Influence of Direct Payments on US Cropland Values
Direct payments were a key fixture of US farm policy and America's farm financial safety net from 1996 to 2013. Unlike prior price support programs, direct payments were considered "decoupled"…
The Impacts of Insurance on Agricultural Land Values
US agricultural policy provides a financial safety net for America's farmers. Over the last fifty years, economists have shown that the monetary benefits of these policies are bid into agricultural…
The Impact of Urban Areas on Farmland Prices in Illinois
Farmers and farmland owners often cite urban pressure as a key driver of farmland prices in areas surrounding metropolitan centers. While the influence of urban areas on farmland markets is…
Linking the Price of Agricultural Land to Use Values and Amenities
Given the recent decline in commodity prices and expectations of lower farm income levels, there is a growing concern that current conditions signal an eminent decline in agricultural land values.…
Highlights of the 2012 Census of Agriculture: Legal Structure of Illinois Farms
Throughout the United States and around the globe, consumers are increasingly concerned with how their food is produced. These concerns range from healthfulness and food safety to the environmental impact…
Weekly Farm Economics
Farmland Price Outlook in 2014 and Beyond
Recent commodity price declines have led to increasing concerns that farmland prices could decline as a result of potential decreases in income to farmland. Corn prices, for example, have decreased…
Updated Farmland Values and Returns Tools – 2014
Each year, the USDA provides extensive data related to farmland values, rental rates, and other indicators of economic performance by county, state, type of agriculture and other meaningful categorizations of…
Illinois Farm Real Estate Continues Increases for 2014
Each year the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA releases estimated average farm real estate values by state. The estimates are based on surveys of farmers from selected geographical…
Highlights of the 2012 Census of Agriculture: A Closer Look at Farm Size
As discussed previously, Illinois was home to 75,087 farms in 2012, and the average farm size, as measured by acreage operated, increased by 3.2% from the 2007 Census of Agriculture.…
Highlights of the 2012 Census of Agriculture: Distribution of Farm Size
There are two conventional ways of measuring farm size: (1) number of acres operated and (2) volume of sales. Between the 2007 and 2012 Censuses of Agriculture, the size of…
Highlights of the 2012 Census of Agriculture: Farmland Acreage
The Census of Agriculture provides a wealth of information on U.S. farms, ranches, and operators. The USDA recently released a complete report of state and county-level farm and ranch statistics…
Farmland Markets – Comparing the 1980s and the Present
There has been a recent increase in the number of inquiries received asking about the current farmland market, and potential parallels to the early 1980s; and about precursor indicators of…
Impacts of Recent Changes in the Illinois Farmland Assessment Act
The Illinois Farmland Assessment statutes were designed with the intent to base property tax assessments of agricultural property on income derived from agricultural use, rather than on market values. The…