A panel recently addressed the issue of immigration reform at the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show. Tom Hertz, an economist from the Department of Agriculture and Mark Delich, director of congressional affairs at FWD spoke to the attendees about the economic and political realities of the issue, as well as some proposed reforms. Hertz … Read More
AcreValue Adds Comp Sales to Website
AcreValue is a free online farmland valuation tool created by Granular. Now the company has announced the addition of Comp Sales to their platform. This program will allow users to view land prices for the past two and half years in more than 2,500 U.S. counties, making AcreValue the first ever map-based tool to display land sales from county public records. … Read More
Farm Land Values Down in Illinois
According to a new study released during the Farm Progress Show, prices being paid for farmland across Illinois are continuing a softening trend following prices being paid for commodities with decreases between 2-7 percent. The “Snapshot Survey” is commissioned each year by the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ISPFMRA) and conducted by Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D. with … Read More
Most Rented Ground Owned by Non-Farmers
A total of 353.8 million acres were farmed in the U.S. last year, according to the 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey done by the USDA. 80% of this ground is owned by landlords who are not farmers. The value of the rented land and buildings are valued at $1.1 trillion. This is owned by 2.1 … Read More
St. Louis Fed: Farm Income, Land Values Down
A new report says farm incomes and land values continue their downward slide in the Midwest and Mid-South, and those trends are expected to continue. In its first quarter of 2015 survey, the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis blames the slump on declining grain prices worldwide. Bankers noted a continued decline in farm income compared with the same period … Read More
USDA, Landowners Partner to Aid Gulf Recovery
Private landowners have become important partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to aid in the recovery of the Gulf of Mexico. This USDA news release says in the five years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, America’s farmers, ranchers and forest managers teamed up with the government to put proven conservation efforts on private lands to work to … Read More
Land, Regulations Top Young Farmer Concerns Again
A new survey shows that young farmers are still worried about getting adequate land to grow crops and raise animals. This news release from the American Farm Bureau Federation says the group’s annual outlook survey of participants in the Young Farmers & Ranchers program found that 29 percent of respondents were concerned about that issue, followed by government regulations, which … Read More
Expect ‘Different Kind of Market’ for Farm Land
A leading expert in land, auction and agribusiness related transactions says 2015 is going to be a different kind of market for farmland. Murray Wise Associates, LLC says while falling commodity prices will play a role, there’s more at work there. “This year has been one of transition, with prices varying widely depending on land quality and location. The market … Read More
USDA to Survey Land Owners on Ownership, Economics
The federal government knows how many acres of farmland are rented or leased; now the feds want to hear from the owners. This news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) says the agency will be surveying farmland owners to measure financial impacts and challenges of land ownership, and landowners should expect to see forms … Read More
Land Trusts Converging on Washington
Land trust leaders from across the country are converging on Capitol Hill on April 2 to educate and engage Congressional members on key land conservation issues that support the nation in securing local economic sustainability, fresh food, clean water, places to recreate, and keeping family farms in the family, during the third annual Land Trust Advocacy Day sponsored by the … Read More