Farmland values rose 4% YOY, according the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s May AgLetter, due to strong demand from farmers and greater availability of fund for lending. The Seventh Federal Reserve District reported QOQ farmland values increased 2%. However, the amount of farmland for sale, the number of properties sold, and the amount of acreage sold was less than first quarter of 2010.

Over the past 12 months, as the economy has rebounded, lending has become more available, and the outlook improved for agriculture, farmers and investors have started to look to acquire more land. We believe that the amount of land sold in the last quarter was muted due to the late harvest and early planting. The traditional selling season of post and pre harvest was delayed as farmers tried to get their crops out of the ground and put in an early planting for 2010.