This means the price of food will continue to skyrocket...Farmland has biggest 1-year value jump since 1980 (Denver Post, Nov. 15, 2011):
...The average value of farmland in several Midwestern and Western states grew 25 percent over the past year in the biggest one-year jump in at least three decades.
The increase reported Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mo., reflects current low interest rates and a healthy farm economy. But the higher land values will make farming more expensive.
“It makes it difficult for early farmers or farmers who want to expand their operation,” Nebraska Farm Bureau President Keith Olsen said. “The other big concern is that as ag values go up, property taxes are going up.”
Land values increased despite widespread flooding and drought that many farmers in the region struggled with this year. Several hundred thousand acres of farmland along the Missouri River spent much of the summer under water because of flooding, and southern Plains states have been battling severe drought.
..."Jason Henderson, the Federal Reserve economist in Omaha who oversees the survey, said land values in Oklahoma are being driven more by energy markets than by farm income because of the oil and other minerals being mined there.
“In a few areas, you had oil money,” he said.
