According to Farm Progress, last year, the average value that farmland in Iowa sold for was just over $8,500 per acre, more than double the value just five years ago. The price of pasture and timberland in Iowa also increased in 2012. For close to a decade the total land value per acre has continued to rise for the majority of Iowa’s 99 counties.

The pace of the rise in the price per acre is something that has not been witnessed state wide since the 1970’s. Over the last 10 years (2002-2012), the value of land in Iowa has risen at an annual rate of nearly 15% per year.

Data Source: Iowa State University

Possible sources of the rather dramatic increase in the price per acre of land may include a mix of  low interest rates, demand for biodiesel and ethanol fuels (which uses a large portion of Iowa’s and the nation’s corn crop), as well as high cattle, corn and soybean prices.