It's been a quiet year for non-irrigated land values and cash rents in South Dakota. The average cropland value rose just $34 per acre, or 0.9% from 2017 to 2018, according to the recently released south Dakota State University Farm Real Estate Survey Report.

The statewide average cash rental rate for non-irrigated cropland was $3 per ace higher in 2018 than 2017, and the state average cash rent for pasture and rangeland was unchanged.

Non-irrigated cropland
As of the February 2018 survey, the weighted statewide average value of South Dakota's non-irrigated cropland was $3,937 per acre.

Regional cropland values tended to gather in the following three groups:

• East-central and Southeast regions, with average values of $6,237 and $6,361 per-acre, respectively.

• Northeast, North-central, and Central regions with average cropland values varying from $4,546 to $3,347 per-acre.

• South-central, Southwest and Northwest regions with values of $2,125 in the South-central, $1,207 in the Southwest and $1,369 in the Northwest

Average cropland cash rental rates increased in the four regions (southwest, Northeast, Central and South-central) with the other regions unchanged or lower.

Rates ranged from $33 per acre in the Southwest region to $204 in the Southeast region. Rental rates in Minnehaha and Moody counties were the high, at $231 per acre.

Irrigated cropland
Changes in irrigated average cropland values since 2016 ranged from -24.3% to +2.4. No values were collected in 2017. Values were between $6,500 and $6,876 per acre in the Southeast and East-central regions, respectively. Western region irrigated land values averaged $2,035 per acre and ranged from $1,575 to $2,488 per acre.

The cash rent average for irrigated cropland varied from $100 per acre in the Southwest region-to $228 per acre in the Southeast region. A decrease in cash rental rates from 2016 was seen the Southeast, North-central, Central and Western regions. No cash rental rates for irrigated cropland were collected in 2017.

Pasture and rangeland
The value of South Dakota pasture and rangeland averaged $1,252 per-acre, a 3% increase compared to 2017 values. The East-central and Southeast regions averaged $2,624 and $2,829 per-acre, respectively. Values in the Northeast, North-central and Central regions varied from $1,712 to $2,178 per-acre. The lowest pasture values per-acre were in western South Dakota. They varied from $781 to $1,240 per acre.

Average cash rental rates for rangeland and pasture ranged from $16 per acre in the Southwest region to $75 per acre in the East-central region. Minnehaha County's rents were the highest — $80 per acre.

Average per cow-calf pair monthly rental rates for 2018 ranged from $37 to $51 per pair. Average yearling rates were between $31 and $47 per head.

Complete report
The South Dakota Agricultural Land Market Trends, 1991-2018: Results from the 2018 SDSU South Dakota Farm Real Estate Survey is available to read in full online.