WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. cash rent per acre paid to landlords for cropland in 2011 rose $9, or 8.8 percent, while pasture rental increased 4.5 percent to $11.50, according to a USDA Cash Rent report.

“The increase in cropland land rental rates is the result of producers receiving strong commodity prices, while pasture cash rent is affected increased by land values,” the report stated.

Pasture cash rents averaged $11.50 per acre, above the 2010 price of $11. The report said cropland cash rents in the United States also averaged $111 per acre, compared with $102 per acre for 2010. The report, released Sept. 12, excluded Alaska and Hawaii.

In the Corn Belt, the major corn- and soybean-producing states of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana had increases in cropland cash rents, with Iowa increasing 11.4 percent to $196 per acre, the highest one-state increase in the Corn Belt, Lake States and Appalachians. Illinois and Indiana both increased approximately 8 percent to $183 and $152 per acre, respectively.

According to the report, the Corn Belt and Northern Plains regions account for slightly more than half of cash-rented cropland in the U.S.

In Iowa, cash rent paid for non-irrigated cropland increased $20 from 2010 to $196 per acre in 2011 at the state level. The report also said cash rent paid for pasture in Iowa, at $46 per acre, was $6 higher than 2010 at the state level.

Lake States highest percent increase

The Lake States of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin had the highest percentage regional increase for cropland cash rent, 11.2 percent above 2010, the report said. In the Northern Plains region, cropland cash rents increased $6.50 per acre to $77.50, and $15 per acre to $167 in the Corn Belt region.

In Ohio, the average cash rent per acre in 2011 was $110, up $9 from 2010; and in Missouri, this was $106, up $7.50 from last year, the report added. The Appalachian States of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia had an average cash rent per acre for cropland of $72.50, up $1.50 from 2010. The average cash rent per acre for pasture there was $20 in 2011, unchanged from 2010.

Parke Carter, AFM, area vice president at Farmers National in Lexington, Ky., said many of the company’s leases from the Lexington office are long-term and renew from year to year.

“As we went into 2011, we renegotiated some of the terms to be more favorable for our clients by increasing planned corn and bean acres, and cash rental income by converting some previously dedicated pasture or hayland to row crops,” he said.

Pasture rents up 4.5 percent

U.S. pasture cash rents averaged $11.50 per acre, up 4.5 percent from 2010. While pasture rent in the Northern Plains remained unchanged from the previous year, rents in the Southern Plains increased by $1.20 and rents in the Mountain region increased 40 cents.

The Northern Plains, Southern Plains and Mountain regions account for more than 80 percent of the cash-rented pasture acreage in the U.S., the report said. In the Corn Belt, the cash rent paid for pasture increased $2 to $31.50 per acre, which continues to be the highest cash rent paid for pasture in the nation.

Conversely, the results of the 2011 Cash Rental Rate Survey for Iowa – conducted by William Edwards, Iowa State University extension agricultural economist, and his staff – estimated the average cash rent for corn and soybean land in the state for 2011 is $214 per acre, an increase of $30, or 16 percent, from 2010.

Edwards said current Iowa cash rents quickly responded to the fall 2010 increase in corn and soybean prices caused by tight grain supplies and increased demand worldwide, which was the largest one-year increase since the statewide survey was started in 1994.

Moreover, a biennial survey – the latest released Sept. 1 by the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter No. 2 Realtors Land Institute in Mount Vernon – stated an acre of medium-quality Iowa farmland had a value of $6,477, increasing 34.7 percent since Sept. 1, 2010. 

Indiana values rose 24 percent

The 2011 Purdue Farmland Value Survey, released in August, said Indiana farmland values hit an all-time high after jumping an average of 24 percent from 2010 – a rate of increase not seen since 1977.

The survey also stated statewide increases in Indiana ranged from 22.8-25.3 percent because of “strong grain prices, low interest rates, strong farmland demand and a limited supply of farmland being brought to the market.”

According to the Western Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents Survey 2010-2011, bare cropland values are expected to increase from 3.1 to 7.4 percent in 2011, depending on the region and land class. Cash rents are expected to increase from 7.19 to 10.11 percent, depending on the region and land class.