WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture has announced a collaboration with Acres.com, a land data and mapping platform.

The partnership will enhance the center’s ability to deliver high-quality, timely insights to agricultural producers in the state, Michael Langemeier, the center’s director, said in a release.

Acres will be able to provide a more detailed look at farmland market trends than currently provided in Purdue’s annual Farmland Values and Cash Rent Survey, he noted. The survey compiles per-acre farmland price data from market professionals, Langemeier said, offering insights at the state level and within six multi-county regions.

As an example of how Acres could provide additional information not found in the Purdue report, Langemeier said the most recent survey found the southwest part of the state had the largest annual growth – 22.5 percent – in average per-acre farmland prices.

“Acres’ county-level transaction data pinpoints the two counties with the highest per-acre increases between 2023 and 2024 are located in the southwest region: Daviess (69.5 percent) and Greene (56.3 percent),” Langemeier said. “Acres’ data also uncovered significant variability in the market that regional averages may obscure. While the southwest region overall saw a rise in prices, some counties, such as Vigo (minus 24.9 percent) and Warrick (minus 32.2 percent), experienced notable declines in farmland prices between 2023 and 2024.”

Todd H. Kuethe, Purdue professor of agricultural economics and Schrader Endowed Chair in Farmland Economics, discussed the partnership during the university’s Top Farmer Conference in January.

Purdue’s land values and cash rent survey compares prices from June to June, he said. Kuethe said he’s unable to provide updates on land values in between surveys.

“We’d like more frequent information,” he pointed out. “(Acres is) going to work with us – Purdue Extension, Center for Commercial Agriculture – to be able to provide more timely information.

“The big thing with Extension education is we’re trying to make sure we’re providing information that will be helpful for people to make decisions. Land is 80 percent of the balance sheet, it’s the principal source of retirement. It’s used as collateral. We had constant questions about land values.”

The farmland values survey provides valuable information but it was created in a world when Purdue couldn’t collect land transaction data, Kuethe said. Purdue has a desire to do more detailed work and provide more regular information, he added.

“We’ve had this desire for a while,” Kuethe said. “The problem is accessing that kind of data is very expensive from a university’s perspective.”

In the release, Aaron Shew, vice president of product and data science at Acres, said, “By providing (faculty and students) access to the leading land intelligence platform in the country, we hope to empower accurate and timely transaction-based land values reports, research and student learning opportunities. This collaboration exemplifies more than the provision of software – it demonstrates how Purdue and Acres value driving the cutting edge of land analysis, research and training for the future.”

Acres has data for more than 150 million parcels of land. The company was initially built as software to support due diligence done by AcreTrader, a farmland real estate investment company.

The new data and insights to be provided by Acres will be available in more detailed reports in the coming months, Langemeier said.