COLUMBIA, Mo. — Pastureland values in Missouri increased 7.2 percent this year over their 2013 level, according to the University of Missouri annual land value survey.

It is the latest sign of increasing pasture values in cow-calf country, the result of rises in cropland values and, now, high cattle prices.

The increase in Missouri pastureland values is five times what the surveyed lenders, appraisers and brokers expected just last year.

“On the cattle side of it, it is looking awfully good and expected to be better, if possible, in 2015,” said Ron Plain, University of Missouri extension agricultural economist. “So I don’t see much of a reason for pastureland values to stop going up anytime soon.”

Those surveyed estimated pastureland will rise 2.2 percent, on average, next year. That contrasts with participant expectations for cropland values in 2015. “They predict cropland value will be down 1.2 percent in July of 2015, compared to July of 2014,” said Plain.

Strong cattle markets and the conversion of some pasture to cropland, as well as rising farmland values across the Corn Belt, are only part of the increase in pasture values.

Research reported last week at the University of Illinois farmdocdaily blog points out pastureland is made more valuable by nearby hunting opportunities and development potential.

“For example, the analysis demonstrates that hunting opportunities play a statistically significant role in the determination of pastureland values but not cropland values,” said U of I economist Todd Kuethe, who wrote with Cornell University’s Jennifer Ifft and the USDA’s Alison Borchers.

“In addition, local population levels, county income and distances to the nearest college and golf course are also shown to influence crop and pastureland values in some instances.”

Illinois average pastureland values are up slightly, averaging $3,400 per acre this year, according to USDA. The average in Iowa and Tennessee is also $3,400. Ohio averaged $3,100; Kentucky, $2,700; Indiana, $2,550; and Michigan was at $2,500.

Pasture values and rents vary widely for cow-calf operations in Kentucky and Tennessee. In Tennessee, development potential can push up pastureland values, especially near Nashville and other metro areas. A survey of bankers by the St. Louis Fed, which includes western Kentucky and West Tennessee, showed expectations for pasture values to increase the second half of 2014.

But like cropland, pasture rents and values are location-dependent. Some Mid-South regions indicate little upward pressure for pasture prices.

“I am not seeing any increases,” said Kevin Rose, county agent in Giles County, Tenn. Pasture rents there, 75 miles south of Nashville on the Alabama line, typically range $18-$25 per acre.

Mixed trends across Mid-South

The recent grain price boom saw some Missouri pastures converted to cropland, creating less available pasture for cash rent. The same happened in parts of the southern Farm World region – south of Interstate 70 in Illinois and Indiana, and throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.

This year’s survey of county agricultural extension agents reported pasture-to-crop conversion slowing in western Kentucky. “Agents in the western and central regions have noted a slowdown in the conversion of hay ground and pasture to cropland,” said Greg Halich, University of Kentucky agricultural economist.

But the survey indicated past conversion helped push up pastureland values and rents, especially in the grain-intensive “Mid-West” region of Kentucky, from Henderson County south to Todd County. Pastureland values were estimated $400 greater in that region than in far western Kentucky, or $2,700 compared to $2,300 per acre, according to the survey.

The same survey reported a starker difference in pasture rental rates – $70 for the best land in that Mid-West region, compared to $45 for well-maintained land in far western Kentucky.