It’s amazing how interested people are in farm real estate values.

The last time I wrote a column on this topic, I received lots of feedback and requests for further data. Today, I will follow up with some of the most current information from the agricultural statistics service.

Farmers are interested in these statistics, but there are folks who may be renting or leasing cropland or pastureland to others who seek these numbers, too. Many of these individuals are curious about how their personal situation compares to statewide averages. I was surprised to learn from a phone call I received how many Warren County residents own agricultural land in other parts of the state and surrounding states. Perhaps similar to other kinds of investments, Mississippi farm real estate values — the measurement of all land and buildings on farms — dropped last year. The average on Jan. 1, 2009, of $2,000 per acre was about 4 percent lower than in 2008. Specifically, cropland values held their own at $1,810 per acre, but pastureland decreased by 7 percent to $2,050 per acre.

How does the statistics service come up with these statewide averages? During the first two weeks of June, the agricultural statistics service uses a complete, probability-based, land-area sampling frame. The survey conducted in Mississippi included a stratified sample of 298 land areas (segments), averaging about a square mile in size. Enumerators collecting data for the June area survey contact all agricultural producers operating land within the boundaries of the sampled land segments and record land value information for cropland and pastureland within these segments. 

They also collect an estimated value of all land and buildings for the operator’s entire farming operation and the estimated percent change from the previous year. Survey reported data are reviewed for reasonableness and consistency by comparing with other data reported in the survey and with data reported within the segments the previous year.

Often, landowners and farmers contact the Extension office to inquire about average rental rates for pasture and cropland. These facts are reported by the statistics service, too. It was interesting for me to note that average pasture rents reported this year stood at $15 per acre, which was down considerably from the $18.50 figure last year and below the $16.50 rate in 2005. Irrigated cropland rented for an average of $100 per acre, while nonirrigated cropland fetched $67 per acre cash rent. Cropland rental rates really did not represent a drastic change from the previous five years.

Looking back over the past 40 years, farm real estate values have climbed rather steadily, except for the period from 1981 to 1987. During that time, the per-acre value dropped from slightly more than $1,000 to $600. From that point, farm real estate values have more than tripled.

John C. Coccaro is county Extension director. Write to him at 1100-C Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39180 or call 601-636-5442. E-mail him at jcoccaro@ext.msstate.edu