Farmlands rise in midwest us

Farmland values in the U.S. Midwest climbed 14 per cent in the third quarter of 2013 year-on-year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The bank’s figures highlight the improvement made by farmland in the last 12 months following last year’s drought. Indeed, Iowa, Illinois and other markets may harvest up to 38 per cent more corn this year than in 2012, according to the US Department of Agriculture Forecasts.

The increase in crop yields have helped to support the momentum of growth in farmland values, a representative of the bank explained in the report (via Bloomberg). Indeed, farmland prices have surged in the US and in the UK and other countries in recent months as the agricultural asset becomes an increasingly popular option for investors. In Indiana, farmland prices jumped 18 per cent annually.

Values are forecast to soften, though, during the fourth quarter of this year, with 75 per cent of the 195 bankers surveyed in the report predicting stable prices and 21 per cent predicting a decline. Just 4 per cent predicted further price rises.