(Radio Iowa) – The recently released Iowa State University Land Value Survey found a modest one-point-seven percent statewide increase in the value of farmland. Survey leader Wendong Zhang says one of the factors in the increase is the lack of available land.  He says when you look at ownership — half of the land is owned by the same owner for more than 20 years. “So, it stays in the family for a fairly long time,” Zhang says.

He says land that is sold often is bought by someone who lives nearby. “Even when it comes to transfer, it tends to be sold to local existing farmers, if it ever goes to the market. Another channel would be a will or gift or sale within the family,” he says.

That average price of an acre of ground in the survey this year was seven-thousand-559 dollars ($7,559).