South Dakota Ag Land Prices Experience Smaller Growth Spurt

BROOKINGS, SD (AP) - University economists report a 1.4 percent bump in the value of agricultural land in South Dakota over the past year.

The increase is much smaller than the 6.1 percent registered from 2013 to 2014 and nowhere near the increases from the three previous years that at one point reached 33.6 percent.

The average value of all-agricultural land was $2,505 per acre as of February 1. Highest values were $5,186 per acre in the east central region and $4,995 per acre in the southeast.

South Dakota State University began tracking the farm real estate market in 1991. Professor Larry Janssen says the value changes during the past year "reflect the sharp decline in crop prices and returns."

The estimates are based on reports from 185 responses to the 2015 SDSU survey.

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