The value of Missouri farmland has taken a surprising jump. It depends on whether the land is irrigated or not. Butin either category the values show a double-digit percentage increase in value. The annual survey of 5,000 Missouri farmers shows the value of Missouri farm and real estate, including land and buildings, is up by fifty percent in the last five years. Non-irrigated cropland is up almost 11 percent in the last year. Irrigated cropland is up 15 percent….The average value of an acre of Missouri farmland is almost two-thousand dollars. The double-digit increases surprise officials at the state agriculture statistics service, where Marlowe Schlegel is the deputy director. He was expecting an increase more in the eight to nine percent range. He says much of the increase is because of low interest rates, investor demand and recreational demand. Although Missouri’s values are up by double-digits, the increases lag behind the national numbers.Schlegel says the increases are greatest in areas near growing urban areas… What’s NOT up in Missouri? Rental rates. In fact, average rentals for pasture are down a dollar an acre since last year’s survey. Want more information? Go to www.nass.usda.gov/mo