Land Values Continue Rise

T he 1998 Purdue Land Values survey indicates that the value of an acre of average bare Indiana cropland was $2,155 per acre in June 1998, $55 more than the all-time peak reached in 1981. This is an increase of $158 per acre, or approximately 8 percent, over the value reported in 1997. In each of the past five years, annual increases in the value of this land have ranged from about $100 to over $200 per acre, resulting in an increase of 65 percent for the fiveyear period. Cash rents rose from 1997 to 1998 on average land by a little less than 2 percent to $112 per acre. While rents continued to move upward setting new highs, the rate of increase was significantly less than the 6-percent increase reported in 1997. The increase in cash rents for the past five years has been only 26 percent, in contrast to the 65percent increase in average land values.