Agricultural land value continues to soaring in the Midwest, according to two new surveys released by the Kansas City and Chicago Federal Reserves.
Nebraska has experienced exceptionally strong gains due to bumper crops, with a roughly 40 percent rise in farmland prices from one year ago, CNN Money reported.
The Kansas City Fed's report said cropland values in its district -- which encompasses, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, norther New Mexico and western Missouri -- rose more than 25 percent over the past year. And ranchland values increased 14 percent. The Fed noted that weaker farm income limited farmland value gains in the southern plains, which has been plagued by severe drought this year.
The Chicago Fed, meanwhile, said farmland values in its district in the 3rd quarter of 2011 had their largest increase since 1977, jumping 7 percent from the previous quarter. Iowa farmland prices led the district, jumping 31 percent from last year's 3rd quarter. The district reports on Illiinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Farmland values in the Midwest generally have been rising since early 2010, as Harvest Public Media has reported,and talk of a potential bubble has been percolating for some time.