Despite the fact that Greene County saw a modest increase in farmland values for 2013, a decreasing trend might find its way here soon.

ISU Extension and Outreach Coordinator Michael Cooley says saw a $350 increase in farmland values from 2012 to 2013.  The average total jumped from $9,206 to $9,556.  While a majority of the county is agricultural land, Cooley estimates that there’s a decrease in several counties in the northwest part of the state and he feels that that trend could find its way to Greene County.

“My personal guess is I don’t think it’s going to be too long before we see that, at least plateau in Greene County and actually this year’s growth was really nothing compared to the growth that we’ve seen in past years in land values.  So, I’m really starting to call them steady and based on some slight declines, we’ve seen in northwestern Iowa, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that as we look a year forward in 2014 also.”

He points out that counties like Sac and Carroll each saw slight decreases with Carroll going from $10,401 in 2012 to $10,270 in 2013.

He states that because corn prices and the demand for both corn and ethanol in recent years has been so high, that corn producers have enjoyed steady growth.  He comments that the growth that Greene County has seen in recent years, may start to level off in the next few years.