UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 874 



JfUEPNSjIL. 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management and 



Farm Economics 



H. C. TAYLOR, Chief Jfi 



In Cooperation with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station 



C. F. CURTISS, Director 



orw£^w<- 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



August 23, 1920 



FARM LAND VALUES IN IOWA. 



By L. 0. Gray, Agricultural Economist in Charge of Land Economics, Office of Farm 

 Management, and Farm Economics, and 0. G. Lloyd, Assistant Chief in Farm 

 Management, Iowa Agricultural Bxperiment Station. 



CONTENTS. 



Purposes, scope, and methods of investiga- 

 tion 1 



Trend of land values in the country as a 

 whole 3 



Increase in the average value per acre of 

 Iowa farm land since 1S50 4 



Range of prices paid for farm land 7 



Extent of activity in buying and selling 

 farms, 1919 8 



Persons engaged in buying and selling 9 



Division of increment between different 

 classes 13 



Terms of sale 14 



Farm earnings and incomes of owners, 

 tenants, and landlords, 1913, 1915, 1918, 

 1919 20 



The farmer's power of accumulation as indi- 

 cated by data on net worth 33 



Summary of causes and probable effects of 

 the "boom" 37 



PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND METHOD OF INVESTIGATION. 



The investigation upon which this bulletin is based was undertaken 

 to determine the extent of increase in prices of Iowa farm lands, with 

 special reference to the year 1919, the causes of the unusual activity 

 in the buying and selling of lands in that year, and the probable 

 effects of this activity upon the farming industry in the State of Iowa. 

 It was considered of special importance to ascertain what changes 

 have occurred in the relationship between farm land values, farm earn- 

 ings, and the shares received by landlords and by tenants, and to deter- 

 mine the probable effect of these changes on the opportunity of farmers 

 to acquire the land they cultivate. It was also believed that the in- 

 vestigation would be of some value as a study of the phenomena of 

 land speculation, an important topic in the general subject of land 

 economics. 



Unusual activity in land transfers and rapid increases in the prices 

 of farm land have occurred over wide areas throughout the United 

 States during the past year. If the resources for investigation iad 



184592°— 20— Bull. 874 1 



