Farmland Prices May Rise in 2021

After years of stability, farmland prices may be set to rise in 2021. AgWeb.com said last week factors are coming together that may be about to send the price of land higher. Some of the key factors include government support for farmers, stronger commodity prices, low interest rates, limited farmland for sale, and strong interest from investors.

Doug Hensley, president of real estate services for Hertz Farm Management in Iowa, says those factors are all driving the price of farmland higher. “We’ve sold more $12,000 to $14,000 per acre farms from September to December than the last three or four years combined.”

Randy Dickhut of the Farmers National Company in Nebraska said when COVID-19 ground things to a halt in the spring of 2020, the land market ground to a quick stop. “Buyers and sellers both were cautious and pulled back because of the uncertainty,” he says. “Then, the land market began getting more active in the summer, which led to increasing interest in all types of land.”

Investors also want a safe place to put some cash. Sales activity at Farmers National was up 49% in October and November versus the same time in 2019.

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