MU land-value guide helps to estimate real estate prices

Estimates of farmland values in the past can be made with an updated guide available from the University of Missouri.

The two-page publication gives average land values for farm real estate in Missouri back to 1912. It also gives a formula for calculating estimates of past values.

For income taxes, estates or accounting, people sometimes must know the value of farmland in the past, said Ron Plain, MU extension farm management specialist.

The formula works by calculating the percent of present value compared to past value. That percentage is applied to the current appraised valuation of the property in question.

For example, on Jan. 1 the average Missouri farm real estate value was $1,190 per acre. In 1960, that value was $115. That is 10.35 percent of current value.

That percentage is then applied to current value of the property being considered to determine the value in 1960.

The average value of Missouri farmland has never been higher. The U.S. average, for 48 states, is $1,050, compared to the Missouri value of $1,190.

The low in recent years came in 1987 at $599 for U.S. and $604 for Missouri land. That was in the farm crisis of the 1980s. At the start of that decade, farm real estate value had been $737 for the U.S. and $902 for Missouri.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service provides the real estate values. They include both land and buildings in the valuations. The Guide also contains information since 1980 on all states adjacent to Missouri.

The Guide provides cautions on using the estimates. For example, non-farm impact on value, especially near a growing city, must be considered.

The guide, “Farm Land Value” G404, is available at county University Extension Centers. Or, it can be downloaded from the Internet at http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/