TRENDS Historical and Recent In South Dakota’s Agricultural Land Market

Long-term (20th century) and recent (1991–2003) trends in South Dakota’s agricultural land values are the main topics of this report. It is written for farmers and ranchers, landowners, agricultural professionals (lenders, rural appraisers, Extension educators, and agribusiness persons) and policymakers interested, for various decision- making purposes, in agricultural land market trends. Topics covered in the first section are: (1) historical trends in South Dakota farm real estate values from 1910 to 2000, and (2) the distribution of current agricultural land use by region. The remaining sections are focused on trends in agricultural land values and cash rental rates from 1991 through 2003. Trends in per-acre values and rental rates of agricultural land (non-irrigated cropland, hayland, and rangeland) from 1991 to 2003 are presented in figures 3 through 9 of section two. Trends in per-acre land values by land use, statewide and regional, are displayed in figures 10 through 18 of section three. A brief description of key findings for each figure is also given. The data on historical land values for South Dakota from 1910 through 2000 were obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) series on farm real estate values. Agricultural land value and cash rental rate data from 1991 to 2003 (see tables 1 and 2) were used to create figures 3 through 18. These data originated as survey responses to the annual South Dakota Farm Real Estate Market survey conducted by the SDSU Economics Department. Farm real estate values in the USDA historical data series include the value of all agricultural land and farm buildings, while the more recent SDSU data series does not include the value of farm buildings.