Managing for Profit

Eighties land crash repeat unlikely

A farm land researcher says, depending on location, some farm land is softening in price, while other farmland is actually strengthening.  When Bruce Sherrick, a professor at the University of Illinois and director of the TIAA-CREF Center for Farmland Research, is asked about whether farmland value is going up or down, he replies that it’s complicated.  For one thing, Sherrick cites varying factors that determine farmland value.  “There’s also very little farmland turning over, so it’s hard to get really solid evidence about what the value of farmland is that hasn’t sold,” he says.

Sherrick says that lack of turnover in farmland makes it difficult to talk about what the value is and where it’s going.  There are those who suggest that low interest rates may not last long, so some prospective land buyers are considering purchasing land because they may not have another chance for a while.

Sherrick spoke at the Illinois Farm Assets Conference in Normal, Illinois.

AUDIO: Bruce Sherrick (3 min. MP3)