Purdue News
Purdue News
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March 12, 1999
Indiana farmland values stagnantWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The value of most Indiana farmland is standing still or descending slowly, according to farm managers and rural appraisers surveyed in February by Purdue University agricultural economist J.H. "Jake" Atkinson.Atkinson said 38 members of the Indiana Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers responded to the brief and informal survey about Indiana farmland values, which he conducted during a society meeting. "Forty-three percent said values were staying constant; 41 percent said they were declining; and 16 percent said values were rising," Atkinson said. Estimates of the current value of an acre of good-quality land -- that which yields 150 bushels of corn -- averaged $2,652. A more detailed survey by Purdue agricultural economist Craig Dobbins in June 1998 found the average value of good-quality Indiana land then was $2,715, or $63 more. Cash rents aren't expected to change, with the appraisers projecting 1999 rental rates at $134, the same as last year's. Projecting where farmland values might be a year from now, 65 percent of the survey respondents said they expected them to drop, 25 percent said they would stay where they are now, and 11 percent projected an increase. During the society's February meeting, Atkinson was honored for serving as its secretary-treasurer for 16 years. Purdue agricultural economist Freddie Barnard was named to replace him in that role. Dobbins was named the Department of Agricultural Economics' farm management liaison for the society. CONTACT: Atkinson, (765) 494-4266, atkinson@agecon.purdue.edu
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; sig@ecn.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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