UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 BULLETIN No. 874 



Contribution from the Offiice of Farm Management and Farm Economics 



H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 



In Cooperation with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station 



C. F. CURTISS, Director 



Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER August 23, 1920 



FARM LAND VALUES IN IOWA 



By 



L. C. GRAY, Agricultural Economist in Charge 



of Land Economics, Office of Farm Management 



and Farm Economics 



and 



O. G. LLOYD, Assistant Chief in Farm Management 

 Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Purpose, Scope and Method of Investigation 1 



Trend of Land Values in the Country as a Whole 3 



Increase in the Average Value per Acre of Iowa Farm Land Since 1850 . 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 Indicated by Data on Net Worth 33 



Summary of Causes and Probable Effects of the "Boom" ... 37 



WASHINGTON 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 



1920 



