Pastureland values and rents are down in North Dakota for 2020, after rising in 2019 says Bryon Parman, North Dakota State University Extension specialist.
Statewide the average cash rental rate for pastureland is down around 5.1% while pastureland values were down nearly 3% says Parman who comprised the data from the County Rents and Prices Annual Survey.
Of the nine regions across ND is it important to note three of them are not included in this report as data is sparse in the northern, northern Red River Valley, and southern red River Valley regions notes Parman.
Cash rents are down across all regions of North Dakota from 2019 to 2020 with the largest drops in the northwestern region down 8.2%, south-central region down 8.7%, and southeastern region down 7.6%.
The north-central, southwestern, and east-central regions experienced cash rental declines between 1-2%, for a statewide average decline of nearly 5%, with the most expensive pastureland and rental rated being in the southeastern region at $31.70/acre or $44.65/Animal Unit Month and the least expensive in the northwestern region at $11.1/acre or $16.82/AUM.
The two largest declines in pastureland values occurred in the northwestern region and east-central region. The northwestern region had a decline of 12.4% while the east-central region had a drop of 9.9%.
More modest declines occurred in the southwestern region fell almost 5% while the north-central region fell 1.1%, with an average decline statewide of approximately 3%.
The 2020 Department of Trust Lands survey was conducted before the effects the COVID-19 crisis had a chance to be felt across the livestock industry and livestock markets have moved dramatically lower in recent weeks and should they persist well below 2019 prices for much of the year, it will likely have an impact on pastureland prices and rents heading into 2021, says Parman.
Parman concludes any government assistance provided to livestock producers, may help prop-up net incomes during the year and the drop in pastureland values and rents across North Dakota seen from 2019 to 2020 could continue downward as livestock producers grapple with low prices and uncertainty.
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