There's been plenty of talk about the rush to buy land this fall. Prices are rising and you hear those stories from the coffee shop about someone paying some exorbitant price for land "just to have it." But this is also an important business transaction for any farm and the Farm Progress PANEL surveyed members to get a sense of what they paid.

The question we asked? "We've seen some hot land sales -what's the most per-acre price you've ever paid for farmland?

From these results it looks like farmers are paying more for ground but trying to keep it real. More than 60% say they paid in the $7,000 to $10,000 range. Taking Iowa farmland as an example, knowing the majority are in this range just shows how high prices have risen over the last decade. As someone once said: "They're not making more land." So it becomes more precious.

About 20% shared they paid in the $10,001 to $13,000 range, which is a relatively common price for the land transactions that have come into our inbox recently. Top quality farmland with a solid CSR2 rating will go well.

Five percent of respondents say they paid in the $13,001 to $15,000 range, which is frankly becoming more common, though not for this group of respondents, at least yet.

Our final category, where we saw 14% respond was to the question: Higher than listed here. A look at some recent Iowa farmland transactions shows some as high as $20,000.

The price anyone pays for farmland is still a personal choice and a balance between having that land and how it impacts your income statement. We'll run this PANEL survey again something in early 2022 and see how the numbers change.

Thanks to everyone who responded to these PANEL questions.

Be a part of the PANEL

The Farm Progress PANEL is your chance to share your thoughts on key issues. To take part, start by signing up for our daily mobile text service Farm Progress NOW. To do that text FARM to 20505, and be sure to respond to the text that follows we have a double opt-in system to make sure you're signed up.

Later in one of our daily update texts we'll provide information about how to sign up for the PANEL. And thanks to the respondents for helping us out.b