2018 Farm Outlook

Page 26 2018 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Oct. 25, 2018 T he three key counties in central Illinois - Logan, McLean and Sangamon - are known as some of the most fertile, best producing lands in the entire United States. The soil and rainfall here are just about perfect. As farm ground, the production here exceeds national averages for growing corn and beans, especially with new hybrids and GMOs. The high production in these three counties is what has kept farming here alive, away from bankruptcy, and able to survive even with lower crop prices. As a result of its productivity, land prices in central Illinois and these counties has continued to remain stable at very high levels despite the ongoing lower price of corn and beans. The National Agricultural Statistics Service shows that the national average for cropland was $2,060 in 2005 and $4,090 per acre in 2017, while the three key Illinois counties reached a high in excess of $17,000 an acre in 2005 and has currently reap a bounty on land sales Local land owners By Jim Youngquist settled down to around $12,000 an acre, often however bringing as much as $15,000 an acre. Because of its high price and high value, local land speculators have bought tracts at auction and sold them a short time later at a substantial profit. Sources say, however, that if left to their own, central Illinois acreage would level out at somewhere between $3,000 - $5,000 an acre if merely linked to productivity and local market pricing. This is still above the national average. When only local purchasers were buying land that goes up for sale, prices were much lower. CONTINUED