It cost more to rent an acre of cropland or pasture land in 2012, according to new figures from the USDA.
The average cost to rent an acre of cropland in Missouri went up by 4 percent. Pastureland increased by 10 percent.
Ron Plain is an agricultural economics professor at the University of Missouri. He says rental rates and a land’s market value are both tied to the value of what is being produced on that land.
“If crop prices go up or if cattle prices go up, the value of what you produce on an acre of land goes up and therefore people are willing to pay more to rent land or, if the owner of the land is willing to sell it, they’re willing to pay more on a market price to sell it," Plain says.
The average acre of Missouri cropland rents for $110. The average pasture rent in $28.
Pasture land rent value is increasing because less of it is available, Plain says, as each year more pasture is converted to cropland.