The good news is that agricultural land is increasing in value in Wyoming. The bad news is, the value doesn’t really matter unless you want to sell and are able to find a buyer, and sales of rural ag land are lagging.

Steven Gunn of the Wyoming Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in Cheyenne reports that the average value of farm and ranch real estate in Wyoming on Jan. 1 was $540/acre. Those are the most recent statistics available. USDA officials in Washington, D.C., must approve final 2011 crop reports before they can be released, Gunn says.

Farm land values went up 3.8% from $520/acre a year earlier, according to Gunn. Agricultural real estate values include farm and ranch land and buildings. Farm real estate values in Wyoming have risen 10% or $50/acre since 2007. Average value/acre was the second lowest in the nation (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) with New Mexico being first at $500/acre.

Cropland value increased 6.1%, from $1,197 on Jan. 1, 2010, to $1,270 on Jan. 1, 2011.

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