The average value of American cropland across the country has risen by about 14% in 2022 as strong commodity prices and inflation eclipsed rising input and other production costs.

It was the second straight year farmers saw substantial increases in the value of their land, with some of the biggest jumps in the Northern Plains, Corn Belt and Lake States, according to new USDA data.

U.S. cropland value this year is averaging $5,050 per acre – $630 per acre more than a year ago when land prices were already rising, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said in its recent annual Land Values report. …

Although renters are seeing rates rise along with input costs, they are also profiting from strong prices, says Paul Pittman, CEO of Farmland Partners.

Pittman warns against putting too much stock in the record-high land values over the past couple of years, stressing instead the importance of thinking about the long-term value of investing in cropland. Values mostly rise and then plateau over the years, but they have consistently gone up since the 1970s by an overall average of roughly 5.6% per year.

“Investing in farmland should never be seen as a get-rich-quick scheme,” he said. “If you tried to time it perfectly, you’d just lose money.”

But over time, farmland is one of the best investments there is, Pittman stressed. …

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