A new survey of Missouri farmland values shows they’re up–again.

The study done by the University of Missouri Agriculture Economics Department shows high commodities prices and low interest rates have driven values to record highs.  The same factors also are driving rental prices for farmland up.

Agribusiness specialist Karisha Devlin of Edina says competition for access to productive land also is forcing values up.  She says economic problems in other sectors do not appear to have hit farmland values.

Devlin says the average value of good crop land has gone up almost 19 percent in the last year. Good pasture land is up almost 8 percent and non-crop, non-pasture land values are up an average of almost five percent.

Devlin says the rising values do not appear to have brought speculators into the land-buying business. She says two-thirds of the landowners plan to operate the land themselves.  Only ten percent don’t plan to use it for agricultural production.The remaining 22 percent plan to rent their land. 

AUDIO: Devlin interview 11:09