June 2021
In anticipation of the annual Purdue Agricultural Economics Report (PAER) on 2021 Indiana farmland values and cash rent rates, we’ve pulled together all of the farm and land sales results in a top-quality farmland county of West Central Indiana. All sales disclosure data is believed to be accurate and from sources deemed reliable to provide an updated snapshot of the price per acre in Benton County for 2021.
In total, there have been 29 land sales in Benton County, year to date. Of these 29 sales, the average price per acre sold was $10,291. This exceeds the top-quality farmland values for West Central Indiana as reported within the PAER from 2020 by approximately $983.
| Price per Acre | # of Sales | Percent of Sales |
| $5,000 or less | 2 | 7% |
| $5000 to $10,000 | 16 | 55.2% |
| $10,000 to $15,000 | 9 | 31% |
| $20,000 to $25,000 | 1 | 3.4% |
| $30,000 to $35,000 | 1 | 3.4% |
Within Benton County, Hickory Grove township had the highest number of sales followed by Center township.
| Township | Center | Gilboa | Grant | Hickory Grove | Oak Grove | Parish Grove | Pine | Richland | Union |
| Sales | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| % of Sales | 17% | 7% | 10% | 24% | 4% | 14% | 14% | 3% | 7% |
In reviewing land features, we notice that all sales contained tillable land; 59% of the sales were predominantly FSA tillable farmland acres and 10% contained grain storage bin improvements in addition to tillable acres.
We continue to see an increasing demand for farmland containing wind turbines, and of the land sales in Benton County for 2021, 10% contained wind turbines and wind turbine royalty income.
If we analyze the size of these sales, the smallest land sale recorded was 40 acres and the average acreage was 90.
As for the demographics of buyers of Benton County Indiana farmland, we see 76% of the ownership remained with local farm families or local landowners. Year to date in 2021, 24% of the farmland buyers live out of state and are considered non-operating landowners.
Non-Operating Landowners & Farmland Investments
We continue to see increasing demand from non-operating landowners to purchase land in Benton County, where some of the best top-quality farmland in West Central Indiana exists. Many of these investors prefer to leaseback the farm to the seller where possible.
As more & more non-operating landowners purchase ground in Benton County, farm management leases increasingly reflect extending cash rent leases to 3 year and 5 year terms with provisions for conservation practices, cover crops and preserving data sets for soil fertility, yield history, soil health and more.
In Conclusion
Indiana farmland is high demand, and top quality land values are on a strong upswing. We continue to see more non-operating landowners requesting long-term leases that are a win-win with the local farmer.
We continue to monitor all land sales in the area and will provide a price per acre comparative analysis after the 2021 Purdue Land Values report is released.
UPDATE
The 2021 Purdue Agricultural Economics Report (PAER) was released this week, and we have some new data to share.
Benton County is yet again home to some of the highest land values in the state. We earlier reported that the average price per acre of farmland sold in Benton County to be $10,291 per acre for 2021. If we compare this to the regional and statewide averages, we see that Benton County farmland sold for nearly $900 more per acre than the regional average and over $2000 more per acre than the statewide average.
