by: Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management, Director, OSU Income Tax Schools OSU Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources
Ohio cropland values and cash rental rates are projected to decrease in 2018. According to the Western Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents Survey, bare cropland values in western Ohio are expected to decrease anywhere from 1.7 to 3.6 percent in 2018 depending on the region and land class. Cash rents are expected to decline anywhere from 1.2 percent to 3.0 percent depending on the region and land class.
Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rent
Ohio cropland varies significantly in its production capabilities and, consequently, cropland values and cash rents vary widely throughout the state. Generally speaking, western Ohio cropland values and cash rents differ from much of southern and eastern Ohio cropland values and cash rents. The primary factors affecting these values and rates are land productivity and potential crop return, and the variability of those crop returns. Soils and drainage capabilities are the two factors that most influence land productivity, crop return and variability of those crop returns.
Other factors impacting land values and cash rents are field size and shape, population density, ease of access, market access, local market prices, potential for wildlife damage, field perimeter characteristics, and competition for rented cropland in a region. This fact sheet summarizes data collected for western Ohio cropland values and cash rents.
2018 Study Results
The Western Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents study was conducted from February through April in 2018. The opinion-based study surveyed professionals with a knowledge of Ohio’s cropland values and rental rates. Professionals surveyed were farm managers, rural appraisers, agricultural lenders, OSU Extension educators, farmers, landowners, and Farm Service Agency personnel.
The study results are based on 108 surveys returned, analyzed, and summarized. Respondents were asked to group their estimates based on three land quality classes: average, top, and poor. Within each land-quality class, respondents were asked to estimate average corn and soybean yields for a five-year period based on typical farming practices. Survey respondents were also asked to estimate current bare cropland values and cash rents negotiated in the current or recent year for each land-quality class. Survey results are summarized for western Ohio with regional summaries (subsets of western Ohio) for northwest Ohio and southwest Ohio. See the entire summary at: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management-tools/farm-management-publications/cash-rents