Farmland sales stagnant into 2017, Rents trending downward

By Hembree Brandon, Delta Farm Press

The average sale price for both irrigated and non-irrigated farm land in Mississippi changed little between 2016 and 2017, and rents continued to “modestly decline,” according to the Mississippi State University Agricultural Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey.

The survey was conducted in May by the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics and MSU Extension. Participants included agricultural lenders, appraisers, farm managers, and agricultural economists.

Row crop, pasture, and timberland sales values in the survey are for tracts where the highest and best use has not changed from agriculture, according to Dr. Bryon Parman, assistant Extension professor of agricultural economics, who compiled the report. “The values do not include agricultural land that has been sold with the intent of being developed for a different purpose.”

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