Chicago Fed Cites Surge in Midwest Land Prices

Agricultural land values in the Seventh Federal Reserve District jumped 12% in 2010, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The district encompasses key portions of America’s Corn Belt, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The increase was the second largest on record over the last three decades and was greatest in Iowa, where values soared a whopping 18 percent.

According to the Chicago Fed’s newsletter, “Slightly more than half of the respondents expected farmland values to keep rising during the January through March period of 2011.”