Purdue Agriculture News

Survey: Indiana farmland values up by 10%

Society members also said they expect land values to rise by 3.25 percent in the next 12 months.

The average market value of an acre of land expected to yield 150 bushels of corn stands at $2,638. Annual cash rent for the same acre is $140, on average, which represents a cash rent increase of $10 compared to this time last year.

As a percentage of land value, cash rent has fallen slightly in the past two years. Agricultural economist J.H. Atkinson of Purdue University said the $140 cash rent estimate is 5.3 percent of the current land value, down from 5.8 percent last year and 6 percent in 1995.

"After allowing for land taxes and management, the net cash-rent return to the landowner is not much more than 4.5 percent," Atkinson said. "Investors in land accept a relatively low current return because they expect future increases in land values." He added that profit margins were even smaller for rural landowners in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Members of the Indiana group manage farms for landowners, appraise farm real estate, buy and sell farmland, and provide management and investment consultation.

CONTACT: Atkinson, (765) 494-4266, e-mail: atkinson@agecon.purdue.edu

Elderhostel programs offered at Purdue June 15 21

The programs provide the opportunity to study golf course design with one of the world's best-known course designers, study the intricacies of human-animal interaction, operate a flight simulator, or put on a stage show.

The courses are being offered through Elderhostel, a nonprofit educational organization that offers inexpensive, short-term academic programs at 1,800 institutions throughout the United States and in 45 other countries.

Participants must be 55 or older, and the registration fee for each session is $360, with reduced rates for those who don't require lodging.

The courses being offered at Purdue this summer are:

• "Vital Links: Designing a World-Class Golf Course" This course will allow participants to view first-hand the construction of a world-class golf course designed by world-famous golf course architect Pete Dye.

  The course is being offered in conjunction with the redesign of Purdue's North Course.

  Purdue faculty from the departments of agronomy, horticulture, forestry, entomology and botany who are participating in the golf course construction will make presentations. One day of the program will be spent touring the construction site with Tim Liddy, an associate of Dye's.

  According to Rita McKenzie, urban forester and organizer of the program, there will be a special emphasis on how golf courses can fit into an overall environmental plan. This is especially critical at Purdue, where the new golf course borders a wetland.

  "One day will be spent looking at how the golf course fits into the environment," McKenzie says. "We won't be looking just at the trees and grass, but also insects, wildlife, water runoff, and nearby habitats." The day will feature new technologies that enable golf course designers to make courses environmentally positive additions to communities.

  Participants will also have the opportunity to play a round of golf on the existing Ackerman Course (formerly the Purdue South Course).

• "Understanding Animals, Understanding Us" This course will examine the interaction between humans and animals of many types. Roger Maickel, director of Purdue's laboratory animal program, will lead the course, which includes tours of the Purdue research facilities, including a laboratory that features virtual reality computer simulations that are used in the teaching of veterinarians.

  Each day of this course will present a day-long mini-course, with topics that will include companion or pet animals; animals in agriculture with tours of the Purdue ag research facilities; veterinary medicine; wildlife problems and solutions; and animals used in biomedical research.

• "The Art of Entertainment: Choral Music Workshop" This course is being offered by the internationally known Purdue Music Organizations under the direction of Brian Breed, and will culminate in a combined performance by the participants. Mary Gardner, Elderhostel coordinator at Purdue, says: "This is a very popular program. This is the third consecutive year we've offered it."

• "Flight of the Imagination: Aeronautics, Astronautics, and the Conquest of Space" This course will examine the science of flight and space travel, and includes an opportunity to pilot a sophisticated flight simulator. "Purdue is known as the mother of astronauts," Gardner says. "This will be an opportunity to study at the same place where many of them were trained."

  The registration fee for each six-day session is $360, and a $75 deposit is required. Reduced rates for those who don't require lodging are: $75 for the session; $105 for the session plus lunch each day; $140 for the session plus two meals; and $155 for the session and three meals per day.

  Participants must be 55 or older; younger spouses may enroll with them. The courses are not offered for credit, and there are no exams or grades.

  To register for the Elderhostel programs at Purdue, contact Purdue Continuing Education at (800) 359-2968, extension 916. For information about the session on golf course design, contact Rita McKenzie at (765) 494-3625.

  A catalog of 1997 Elderhostel offerings at universities around the world can be obtained from Elderhostel, 75 Federal Street, Boston, Mass. 02110-1941, or by calling (617) 426-8056. (For the hearing impaired, a TDD line is available at [617] 426-5437.)

Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; E-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu