Last week KCII reported that the average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa increased 15.9% in 2010.  The average value of Iowa farmland is now $5,064 an acre up $693 from 2009. 

Jim Jenson with the Iowa State Extension says this has several implications.  He says if you own the land your equity in the land is going up so you are worth more money.  If you want to expand or get into farming, it will be harder to get into farming because of rising farm land prices.  He says it will probably also have implications on cash rent that farmers pay.  

According to the survey Washington County increased at a higher percentage rate then the rest of the state with the land values at $5,588 per acre up by $854 from last year.  Jensen says there is no way to know whether farmland values will rise again next year because it is mostly dependent on the stock market.