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Iowa State University recently released land value trends in its state. The lag time between data release and conditions is almost a year, but the underlying trend is quite dramatic with land prices in many counties rising by double-digit percentage gains in 2010.
This report is consistent with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago report on agricultural land price trends, which we noted back in November. Though 2011 data has not been published by either organization, I am inclined to believe further gains occurred this year based on my anecdotal conversations with people from the Midwest farming areas.
Furthermore, jobs have been added to the state in the past year, though the total jobs are below the peak level in 2008. The state’s unemployment rate of 6.0 percent is well below the national average. Given these conditions, the important question is how the land value and job conditions will impact the caucus outcome in Iowa next month.
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