Salient to Investors:

The USDA reported the average value of all land and buildings on farms and ranches in the 48 continental states was $2,650 an acre in June versus $2,390 a year ago.

Brent Gloy at Purdue University said the worst drought since the 1950s in the Corn Belt and Great Plains may make investors shy away in the short-term, but one year shouldn’t have a big economic impact – psychologically, people won’t be as aggressive buying land in places without a crop.

The most expensive farmland in the U.S. was in New Jersey at $12,200 an acre and Rhode Island at $12,000 versus the cheapest land in New Mexico and Wyoming at $560 an acre. The Corn Belt was the most region at $5,560 an acre, up 18 percent from a year ago versus the Mountain region at $974 per acre.

Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-03/u-s-farmland-values-reach-record-on-higher-crop-prices.html