Washington County has average cash rental rates

    Agricultural land in southeast Iowa is rented at a lower price than the state average. That was the finding of Iowa State University researchers William Edwards and Ann Johanns, who recently conducted a statewide survey of cash rental rates. 

    According to the survey, southeast Iowa?s average cash rent for corn and soybean acres in 2010 is $169 per acre, which is $15 below the state average of $184. The only area of the state with lower cash rents is south central Iowa, whose rates are only $151 per acre. The part of the state with the highest cash rents is east central Iowa at $196 per acre.

    The land values survey polled roughly 1,200 people across the state who are involved in agriculture. Forty-five percent of the respondents were farmers, 31 percent were landowners, 11 percent were lenders, 9 percent were professional managers and 4 percent were in other professions.

    Of the approximately 1,200 respondents, seven were from Washington County. The respondents from Washington County reported cash rental values for corn and soybeans to be $182 per acre, much closer to the state average of $184 than the rest of the southeast district. Neighboring Jefferson County?s average cash rent per acre was $173, and Henry County is a few dollars more at $178.

    The county with the highest cash rents in the state was Ida County in west central Iowa at $232 per acre. The county with the lowest cash rents was Lucas County in south central Iowa at $125 per acre.

    Iowa State University Farm Management Specialist Don Hofstrand said that the variation in cash rents is attributable to the quality of the farmland in each area of the state. Hofstrand said the reason farmland in south central Iowa is worse than the rest of the state has a lot to do with how the soil was formed thousands of years ago.

For more, see our May 21 print edition.