According to the latest USDA survey for 2017, U.S. farm real estate values, are holding — even inching 2.3% higher from 2016 values — except for states dominated by dairy. Those values reflect all land and buildings on farms.

Eastern Corn Belt (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan) ag land values have seen only a slight decline, according to the numbers tracked by Farmers National Co. “Prices overall have surprisingly remained steady, leveling off compared to the downward trending from the fall of 2015,” notes Roger Hayworth, regional sales manager for Farmers National Co. “Higher-quality land has been unchanged with a slight dip for mid- to lower-quality farmland.”

Land sales in that region have held steady but slower since 2015. Most sellers are estates, trusts or inheritors. Most buyers are local farmers.

“We believe stability of land prices will continue through 2017 — unless we see some type of market-moving event from crop prices or outside economic influences such as a change in tax policies,” Hayworth adds.

Northeast a different ‘critter’
While Corn Belt numbers don’t reflect what’s going on in the Northeast, this region has much more price diversity, which impacts land value trends. So the Northeast data gathered by the National Ag Statistics Service has been broken up into farm real estate (including buildings), cropland values and pasture values, and give per-acre values for 2017 compared to 2016.

2017 average farm real estate value
Conn.: $5,050 per acre, up 0.8%
Del.: $11,200 an acre, steady
Maine: $2,200 per acre, up 5.3%
Md.: $7,060 an acre, steady
Mass.: $10,400 per acre, steady
N.H.: $4,500, up 3.4%
N.J.: $12,800 an acre, steady
N.Y.: $2,980 per acre, steady
Pa.: $5,600 an acre, up 1.8%
R.I.: $13,800, steady
Vt.: $3,360 per acre, up 1.2%

2017 average cropland value
Del.: $8,100 per acre, down 1.2%
Md.: $6,530 an acre, steady
New England: $7,200, up 1.6%
N.J.: $13,000 an acre, steady
N.Y.: $2,580, steady
Pa.: $6,000 an acre, down 1.6%

2017 average pasture value
Md.: $6,100 an acre, steady
N.J.: $12,500 an acre, steady
N.Y.: $1,400, steady
Pa.: $2,800 an acre, up 3.7%
Other Northeast states: $5,850, steady

Need rent negotiation facts? Take a peek at Northeast cash rents.