Submitted by Craig Askim, Extension Agent/Agriculture and Natural Resources

Many producers become unpleasant when asked to fill out agricultural surveys. However, those surveys play an important role in providing valuable data when it comes to answering many agricultural questions. One of the more common questions I receive is, “What is the average cash rental value and land value for the county?” Mercer County is very diverse in land topography, making this hard to answer. The North Dakota Department of Trust Lands funds a producer survey to provide data to help answer this important question. Below is a list of the value percentage changes from 2017 to June 1, 2018. In some cases the number of reports recorded is very low due to the lack of producers responding. While this is only one source of information on this topic, resource information on land values and rents is hard to find. Please exercise discretion when figuring out true values of land for your operation.

Non-Irrigated Cropland Rental Averages

2016 – $39.60 per acre

2017 - $41.30 per ace

2018 - $32.90 per acre

$7.50 per acre or 20.4% decrease from 2017

Five year average change = 2.3% increase

Non-Irrigated Pastureland Rental Averages

2016 – $18.00 per acre

2017 - $18.30 per acre

2018 - $16.90 per acre

$1.40 per acre or 7.7% decrease from 2017

Five year average change = 4.8% increase

Non-Irrigated Tame Hayland Rental Averages

2016 - $21.60

2017 - $22.70

2018 – $22.50

$.10 per acre or .05% decrease from 2017

Five year average change = .09% decrease

Land Average Values of Rented Land

Non-Irrigated Cropland

2016 - $1,406 per acre

2017 - $1,429 per acre

2018 - $1,261 per acre

11.8% decrease from 2017

Non-Irrigated Pastureland

2016 -$944 per acre

2017 - $1,106 per acre

2018 - $1,133 per acre

2.4% increase from 2017

Non-Irrigated Tame Hayland

2016 - $1,000 per acre

2017 - $1,106 per acre

2018 - $1,172 per acre

5.7% increase from 2017

Conclusion

Rental prices paid for cropland and pasture land decreased from 2017 to June 1, 2018, which is not surprising due to drought conditions and decreased cattle market prices. However, the overall five-year average remained positive for rented pasture. Cropland values remain positive when looking over the five-year average.

Hayland rental rates decreased slightly from 2017 to 2018, but overall remain unchanged. However, pasture and hayland values presented an increase of 2.4% and 5.7% from 2017 to 2018 showing that the demand for grass and hay across the county is still very high. To view the full report go to https://land.nd.gov or your local county Extension office.

Source: 2018 County Rents and Prices North Dakota