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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowStrong grain prices, low interest rates and rules of supply and demand have sent Indiana farmland prices to record levels.
The 2011 Purdue Farmland Value Survey says farmland prices rose as much as 25 percent across the state in 2010. That is the highest rate increase since 1977.
The increase is good news for farmers wanting to sell, but Purdue Extension agricultural economist Craig Dobbins tells the Lafayette Journal & Courier it can pose problems for those seeking to rent or buy farmland.
Dobbins says lease agreements are usually set a year or more before harvests, and the rapid increase in farmland values can make it hard to set appropriate rental rates.
The survey showed poor-quality farmland averaged nearly $4,400 an acre. Top-quality farmland fetched more than $6,500 an acre.
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