The statewide average cash rent for Iowa cropland jumped 10% to $256 an acre, according to an Iowa State University annual survey. The surge, driven by exceptionally strong corn and soybean prices, pegs the statewide rate at it’s third highest level on record and its highest mark since 2014.
The statewide average cash rent spiked to a record high of $270 in 2013 followed by $260 in 2014. The other time the statewide rate exceeded $250 was in 2012, when it averaged $252 an acre. Cash rent first surged above the $200 mark in 2011 when it averaged $214 an acre. The statewide average declined to a low of $219 in 2017 before rising each year since.
The northeast crop district lists the highest average cash rent at $278 an acre. That’s followed by a $276 average in the west-central district, $271 in the central district and $270 in the northwest district. The lowest average cash rent is $203 reported by the south-central district.
The statewide average for cash rent on high-quality cropland is $297, up $30 – 11% – from last year’s $267. Again, the northeast district leads with an average of $324 an acre. That is followed by $318 in the west-central district and $309 in both the west central and central districts. The south-central district lists the lowest average at $240 an acre.