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The report looks at the value of agricultural land across the country in several different categories.  Information comes from USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service survey responses.

The broadest measure of land value in the report is the “farm real estate value.”  This measures the current market value of “all land and buildings used for agricultural production, including dwellings.”  For 2019, the average farm real estate value of the United States was $3,160/acre, up $60/acre from last year, which is a 1.9% increase.  For Texas, the average was $2,120/acre, a 3.4% increase in value from 2018.  For the Southern Plains Region, which includes both Texas and Oklahoma, the farm real estate value increased from $2,000 to $2,070/acre.  Looking at the various regions across the United States, the largest increase in farm real estate values was in the Pacific states (CA, OR, WA).  Interestingly, the only region to show a decrease in value was the Corn Belt (IL, IN, IA, MO, OH), where average values fell slightly from $6,110 to $6,100/acre.  Rhode Island reported the highest farm real estate average value at $15,600/acre, while New Mexico reported the lowest average value of $570/acre.

For cropland values, the average for the United States was $4,100/acre, up $50/acre from 2018.  Note that “cropland” includes land used to grow field crops, vegetables, harvested for hay, and enrolled in government conservation programs.  For the South Plains Region, values increased from $1,820 in 2018 to $1,860 in 2019.  Looking at the data from Texas, the 2019 cropland average value was $1,930/acre, a 2.1% increase from last year.  The report also breaks cropland into irrigated versus non-irrigated cropland for Texas, with results of $2,230 for irrigated cropland and $1,880 for non-irrigated cropland.  Regionally, the Corn Belt had the highest average cropland values at $6,360/acre, while the Southern Plains Region (TX and OK) reported the lowest value at $1,860/acre.

For pasture value, the US average was $1,400/acre, a 2.2% increase over 2018.  Pastureland is defined as land “normally grazed by livestock.”  The Texas pastureland value average was $1,660, a 5.7% increase from the prior year.  For the Southern Plains Region, average was $1,620/acre.  Comparing regions across the United States, the highest pastureland value was found in the Southeast Region (AL, FL, GA, SC) at $4,180/acre and the lowest average value was $683 acres in the Mountain Region (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY). 

For more specific land value information within the State of Texas, be sure to click here to check out the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers report titled Texas Rural Land Value Trends.

Also, if you are interested in average cash lease values for agricultural land by state, region, and county, those numbers from the USDA will be available in a couple of weeks.  Once those are released, I’ll have a blog post for you on that topic as well.