European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Harry Ollna with hit wife Evelyn on some Farmland they purchased recently in Miami county Kansas i Don t think tend is going to get any new optimism about . Farm Economy by William Robbins new York times a Merica s major agric Lutaf lenders Are beginning to Soli much of the vast acreage hey have been Lamg Over my trouble Farmers Lor he last Lew years. And they arc Ollen finding ready and sometimes eager buyers i be always been old thai when the lamer starts buying you will have seen he Bollom of id Markel said Rick Allig a farm manager in Northwestern Iowa Well the banners have started the purchases by Farmers As Well As investors reflect a new optimism about the National farm Economy which has been in recession for much of this decade. The Long slide in Farmland values which Are the principal basis for agricultural credit appears to be ending indeed in some areas particularly in Illinois and Iowa Farmland values Are rising. Many economists while noting that rouble spots remain 1md this and other aspects of the agricultural picture More encouraging than any they have seen in recent years farming costs including interest rates have declined lion the peaks Hal helped bring on the agricultural recession although interest Raies Are now inching up again. The to Al National farm debt has fallen about 12 percent Over the last two years from j19s 7 billion to to 74 billion and farm income in is year Jse poc Edo Loial $31 billion to e33 billion up trom $29 billion last year Page 18 the stars and stripes i Ihrk we Are seeing a turnaround in Larm Psychol Najy raid Mark drab Slott research officer and economist Al the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas oly. To if 13 based on the worst being Over rather than on a really Strong economic picture bul people arc pos droning her selves Lor the Harry Milne a 70-year-old la Mer in Osowa Tamie in Southeastern Kansas who has Buiu a reputation for astute land dealings went out the other Day and bought a farm he had been watching for to years Waihung for the Nghil Price. I believe the land is coming Back he said i Don t think land is going to get any lower and i think you re going of see a steady Rise for the next 20 years prices being paid Are often less than so percent of the Peak they reached in 1981, but they vary widely from Region to Region and irom one Type of Farmland to another. Milne Lor example recently paid $250 an acre for some pasture but was subsequently outbid by an outside investor when he sought of buy similar land nearby for a comparable Price Good cropland in Missouri is now sailing in about $550 an acre tenders there say while some recent sales of some of the Best land in Illinois have been reported recently Al prices As High As $2,000 an acre up in his area of Iowa according to Allig Good land is going or to ,100 to ii ,300 an acre. In Southeastern Kansas the average Price for cropland is s400 to $500 an Acie and that s up about 20 to 25 said Gary Hosack a realty executive Ipaola. The current situation follows a Boom and bust decade with exuberant investment in land and sunday May 24,1987 equipment by Farmers in the la e l?70s. Many wound up heavily in debt in the 1980s, often losing to hair lenders Iho land they had Pul up As collateral for i hair expansion the principal farm lenders usually with considerable reluctance thus Accuri Itald about 5 5 million across. This is Aboul one Hall of 1 percent of the country s billion acres of Farmland Many Farmers remain heavily in dbl a s going to Brj a very difficult year Lor Whoso still facing Shose heavy do big Drabenstott said jul viewed As a he said farming is going to have an excellent year. Livestock will produce very Strong profits and grains producers will get very Strong returns irom government programs the Gram producers depend on government subsidies for Aboul a if eur Gross income and lives lock producers Are getting higher prices while paying less or iced land values in Drabenstott s Dis incl which includes much of the Grain producing Middle Wesl. Continued to All in the last Quarter of 1986 but now appear to be steadying he said. The Alec Olaf evidence 1 am Geling he said is thai Quile a bit of land is changing hands at prices that Are firm the Speed up in land sales appears to have happened largely because prices have fallen to a level where Farmers and investors could buy and make Money. The evidence of demand Lor the land appears to have bolstered prices and eased soars among Farmers and lenders Hal wide scale Selling by he lenders might Lurl Hur depress land values
