Iowa farmland values tumble for third year in a row

Iowa's average farmland value declined for the third year in a row, down 5.9 percent to $7,183 an acre over the past year. It's the first time since the 1980s farm crisis that land values have fallen three straight years, according to an Iowa State University report. Despite values tumbling, chances are low that Iowa will face a replay of the devastating farm crisis, said Wendong Zhang, an ISU assistant economics professor who leads the university's annual farmland survey. Average Iowa farmland values are now 17.5 percent lower than the historic high set in 2013 at $8,716 an acre.