12-6 IAN Farmland Prices

 I have done stories many times in the past  about the subject that I find sort of distressing. On the good side for farmers who own considerable land, the price of farmland has been escalating dramatically despite this horrible recession. On the other hand, it always concerns me that with land prices valued very highly, we will see the younger generation inheriting their farms, seeing a big economic opportunity, selling those farms and moving to town. The question then becomes, where does our food come from. Well, a well known University ag economist expects a continued increase in farmland values in 2012 - but at a slower pace than this year. According to Michael Duffy - a price correction isn't totally out of the question. “If the grain prices soften a lot, if the cost of production goes up more than we are anticipating, we might even see a little correction like we did in 2009.”

 This is the classic definition of a conundrum. You don’t wish for lower prices on farmland for the sake of farmer's families but alternatively you really are  wanting to see the tradition of family farming continue.