Central Plains farmland values grew in 2021

Farmland values increased by more than 20% in the central Plains during 2021, according to a quarterly survey of ag bankers by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, Kansas City, Missouri.

The boost was driven by strong farm income and low interest rates, according to a Kansas City Fed press release.

The 2021 value of irrigated farmland in the central Plains was up 22%, nonirrigated farmland was up 24% and ranchland up 22% on average in the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank’s region of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, the northern half of New Mexico and the eastern third of Missouri.

Of the lenders involved, a majority said they expected values to increase this year, but a similar number said that farmland was currently overvalued, indicating possible future risk of decline.