08/16/07 A big increase in pasture land value

Washington Ag August 16, 2007 A USDA report on land values shows that the Pacific Region had the highest average percentage increase in pasture value from 2006, an increase of 29 percent. In Washington state the National Agricultural Statistics Service says pasture land values were up 15.7 percent from 2006 to an average 700-dollars an acre. Livestock values are one reason for increased pasture land values as are development pressure and tax incentives. And Kevin Barnes of NASS says recreational use is also a factor. Barnes; "We are seeing some sharp increases there. And a lot of that we are seeing is due to investment and interest in rangeland and pasture land for recreational uses. There have been a lot of reports purchases of a lot of that land out there for hunting reserves, this type of thing." That USDA report showed that non-irrigated cropland in Washington increased in value by 4.6 percent from 2006 to 2007 averaging 11-hundred 40-dollars an acre. Irrigated crop land in the state averaged four-thousand dollars an acre, up 7.2 percent from 2006. Cash rents for irrigated farmland in Washington increased ten-dollars an acre from last year to average 210-dollars. A major reason for increased cropland values of course is strong commodity prices. I'm Bob Hoff.