This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
100
Years
of
Farmland
Values
in
Kansas
Bulletin 611
September 1977
Agricultural Experiment Station
Kansas State University, Manhattan
Floyd W. Smith, director
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
100 Years of Farm Land Values in Kansas1
Wilfred H. Pine2
Kansas has approximately 47.5 million acres in farms, valued at
$18 billion ($381 per acre) in 1977.3 In 1880, 21.4 million acres were in
farms, valued at $0.2 billion (based on a census value of $11 per acre),
only slightly more than 1 percent of dollar value in 1977.
The Census of Agriculture has provided farm-land values on a
county basis since 1870 and on a state basis since 1860. Pressly and
Scofield, who used census reports to assemble and publish values for
1850 to 1959, explained that the values per acre as published by the
Bureau of Census included land and improvements and were current
market values (dollars at the date of the census).4 All farms were
enumerated until 1950, after which values were estimated from samples
of farms.
This bulletin presents farm-land value data and brief explanations
of trends dating back approximately 100 years.
State Trends
Based on census reports, average value for farmland in Kansas increased from $7 per acre in 1860 to $19 by 1890, but then decreased to
$15 by 1900 (Figure 1). The 1890s were not good years for Kansas farmers. Wheat yields were particularly low in 1893, 1894, and 1895 and
prices of wheat were 42, 44, and 45 cents per bushel for those
years-record lows except for 1931 and 1932 (Table 1 and Figure l). 5
Although corn yields were reasonably good in the mid 1890s (24.5
bushels per acre in 1895 and 28.0 in 1896), prices for those years were
19 and 18 cents per bushel. Also, cattle prices were low in the early
1890s-inventory value being as low as $16.80 per head in January 1893
(Table 1 and Figure 1).6
1. Contribution no. 78-29-B. Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan. Except as noted, land-value data were
taken from Pressly and Scofield, Farm Real Estate Values in the United States by Counties, 1850-1959, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1965.
2. Economist, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.
3. Acreage, 1974 Census of Agriculture; and value per acre, Farm Real Estate
Market Developments, March, 1977.
1850-1959.
4. In Farm Real Estate Values in the United States by Counties, 1850-1959.
5. Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 58th. Annual Report, 1975, Topeka.
6. Kansas Board of Agriculture, Price Patterns, 1957, Topeka.
1
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
0.
...
.
.
“-.;cwheat
.
-.
.
:’ pa* corn “.
:. .
:: /--‘7
. .
0.
.. . -. . . . . . ..
.
.
2
..
:!
.y ,I
.
i’/
,/
I
1860 ‘70 ‘80 ‘90 1900 ‘10 ‘20 ‘25 ‘30 ‘35 ‘40 ‘45 ‘50 $4 $9 ‘64 ‘$9 $4
Census Years
Figure 1.
Farm land values and prices (average of years since preceding census) for wheat
and corn and inventory value of cattle 1860 to 1974, Kansas. (Sources: Bureau of
Census and Kansas State Board of Agriculture.)
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative
Extension
Service
hasofbeen
and prices
wheatarchived.
and corn and inventory
Table
1. Yields
Current information is available
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
value offrom
cattle
from 1870 to 1974 in Kansas.1
Wheat
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1954
1959
1964
1969
1974
Yield(bu)
15.5
14.1
14.1
13.3
14.0
13.2
13.4
12.8
12.6
11.1
15.8
15.9
15.7
19.7
24.4
24.0
33.1
Corn
Price($)
1.07
.86
.69
.57
.71
1.29
1.16
1.18
.57
.83
1.09
1.90
2.12
1.92
1.76
1.35
2.37
Yield(bu)
31.3
29.7
28.6
21.2
22.4
15.5
22.5
19.9
13.3
12.9
23.6
24.7
25.5
32.6
47.1
68.4
87.8
Cattle2
Price($)
.48
.29
.30
.30
.43
.94
.65
.72
.50
.71
.87
1.49
1.53
1.19
1.09
1.14
1.87
$/head
19
20
24
20
23
42
34
39
39
28
29
51
92
129
104
127
130
221
1. Yields and values for each census year are averages for years since preceding Census. Data from Kansas State Board of
Agriculture: 58th Annual Report. 1975; and Price Patterns. 1957.
2. Inventory value January 1.
From 1900 to 1920 land values moved up rapidly, reaching $62 per
acre, a four-fold increase in 20 years. The price of wheat reached $2.14
in 1919, a high not exceeded until 1947. Prices of corn and cattle
followed the same pattern. But the next 20 years, 1920 to 1940, the
average per-acre value of farmland decreased 50 percent, which was
associated with sharp declines in prices and the drought of the 1930s.
Land values rose nearly threefold during the next 15 years, 1940 to 1955
(1954 census), a period of increasing yields and crop and livestock
prices. During the next 15 years (1955 to 1970) land values doubled,
even though prices of wheat, corn, and cattle declined and dry weather
had cut yields early in the period. New technology, farm enlargement,
and other factors were involved.
During the 5 years from 1969 to 1974 land values doubled,
reaching an average of $301 per acre. Exceptional yields and high
prices associated with general inflation, new technology, investment in
farmland as a hedge against inflation, increase in export demand, farm
enlargement, desire of the urban employed to live in the country, and
other factors have strongly pressured land values upward.
The strength in the farm real estate market slackened in late 1976
and early 1977, however, as a result of lowered prices of major farm
products (decrease in foreign demand) and dry years. High energy costs
may now be discouraging country living and high input costs are
helping to reduce farm income. Some farmers are approaching financial difficulties, particularly cash-flow problems.
3
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Country and Area Trends
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
Land values for Kansas counties were first reported by the 1870
census, though not until 1890 were values reported for all 105 counties
as they are now organized (Table 2). Shawnee County had the highest
average value ($36) in 1870; the capitol city and Kansas River land
probably accounted for that. Since 1870 counties near Kansas City and
Wichita have had the largest increases in land values. For example,
values in the northeastern Kansas counties of Johnson, Jefferson, and
Jackson were about the same in 1870, but by 1974 the value in Johnson
county (which includes a major portion of Kansas City, Kansas) was
about three times that of either Jefferson or Jackson county.
In central Kansas, values in Sedgwick county (which includes
Wichita) and Ottawa County were the same in 1870, but by 1974 farmland in Sedgwick County was worth twice that in Ottawa County.
Irrigation in western Kansas and mineral resources in various areas
have affected counties differently. Land value in Brown County (which
was considered the best corn county in the state) in 1920 was $202 far
greater than that in any other county except Wyandotte (including
much of Kansas City). In 1974 Brown County farmland had a value
$460; however, several other counties had higher values and since 1920
the increase in land value in Brown County has not been so large as that
in some other counties, for example, Douglas (from $109 to $499) and
Leavenworth (from $107 to $538) counties.
Haskell County, a highly irrigated county, moved from $18 per
acre in 1940 to $471 in 1974. The Greeley County value was $7 in 1940
and $238 in 1974. Kearny County values were $11 in 1940 and $250 in
1974.
To gain a picture of changes in land values throughout the state, I
grouped the counties into the 9 crop-reporting districts (Figure 2),7
then weighted the value for each county in that district by the acreage
in farms reported in the Census of Agriculture, beginning with 1880. I
found the overall trends in the crop-reporting districts to be similar
(Table 3). The increases were more gradual in the western than in the
eastern districts until recent years. Percentage increases from 1969 to
1974 were greater in the western, south-central, and southeastern
districts than in the other districts. In 1974 values per acre were about
$100 more in the eastern than in the western districts.
Large increases in feed production through irrigation, accompanied by feedlots and associated agri-businesses, contributed to
the sharp increase from 1969 to 1974 in western Kansas. Urban influences helped to boost prices in south-central Kansas. Area development and “catching up” of land prices likely affected the increase in
southeastern Kansas.
The usual factors (prices, yields, and costs of inputs) affecting
dollar incomes to land owners and such outside factors as the use of
rural land as a hedge against inflation or a place to live and play will
determine future trends in land values. General inflation and cost of
energy quite likely will be major factors.
7. Statistical Division, Kansas State Board of Agriculture, Topeka.
4
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
1
Table 2. Average dollar
value per
acre for farmland
and improvements
for Kansas counties and the state, by census year from 1870 to 1974.
Current
information
is available
from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
Allen
Anderson
Atchison
Barber
Barton
Bourbon
Brown
Butler
Chase
Chautauqua
Cherokee
Cheyenne
Clark
Clay
Cloud
Coffey
Comanche
Cowley
Crawford
Decatur
Dickinson
Doniphan
Douglas
Edwards
Elk
Ellis
Ellsworth
Finney
Ford
Franklin
Geary
Gove
Graham
Grant
Gray
Greeley
Greenwood
Hamilton
Harper
1870
80
90
1900
10
20
25
30
20
12
21
--19
19
8
17
-9
--8
6
18
-4
11
-11
26
31
---6
--21
------13
---
12
14
23
4
08
14
20
12
15
8
10
2
3
10
10
15
3
10
12
3
14
20
23
5
8
20
21
37
12
14
21
37
18
16
13
22
7
8
22
19
22
8
21
27
8
26
31
33
10
15
10
16
9
10
25
19
6
8
6
6
5
17
6
16
21
28
39
5
15
19
47
15
13
10
22
3
2
20
18
20
3
17
25
7
20
43
33
6
12
10
19
3
3
27
18
4
i6
3
5
3
14
5
10
49
42
80
23
57
37
97
40
29
21
38
14
16
57
57
42
16
38
48
22
60
81
57
42
29
28
41
20
30
52
37
17
22
9
17
9
31
15
43
71
68
142
37
77
69
202
59
66
36
71
37
28
86
79
70
38
70
69
34
111
162
109
57
46
41
62
22
46
86
69
21
29
17
28
16
52
58
50
109
28
71
50
144
47
46
29
54
29
22
69
62
67
24
54
51
32
79
119
88
52
39
40
54
23
38
73
62
23
27
22
25
20
41
17
47
47
45
87
28
75
37
116
45
44
26
42
26
23
60
60
48
29
50
43
32
82
104
77
53
33
40
54
27
47
63
59
24
24
35
38
17
40
18
52
-5
17
-2
2
---8
-5
35
40
45
50
54
59
64
69
74
48
20
47
26
75
26
25
14
24
16
18
42
39
30
19
31
28
22
51
66
50
35
17
24
35
20
32
39
40
17
16
22
24
11
21
10
35
29
24
48
23
52
23
64
33
26
17
25
17
14
41
38
29
18
35
25
16
51
56
48
33
18
24
36
14
26
36
35
13
13
16
20
7
22
7
41
87
34
59
30
77
31
85
41
35
20
34
31
21
48
50
35
26
38
35
27
63
67
58
52
25
35
50
24
41
46
42
23
21
28
34
13
27
14
55
63
50
87
44
111
46
130
66
53
34
52
49
42
73
69
55
49
65
53
42
96
91
82
79
42
58
63
60
80
62
56
43
34
65
58
49
46
43
86
73
65
87
62
128
56
143
87
68
44
70
57
53
90
80
67
59
92
62
63
100
104
104
92
57
74
84
71
86
81
85
53
46
78
77
59
62
43
109
100
91
118
79
146
72
162
109
84
61
106
78
61
108
100
104
69
125
76
75
122
140
145
103
71
100
84
92
107
119
114
67
62
96
91
67
72
59
136
118
115
145
103
165
90
194
133
104
85
135
89
77
140
122
109
82
134
115
88
140
154
185
124
82
101
116
118
125
139
131
88
82
127
108
103
92
74
168
179
188
219
120
179
155
265
178
118
111
181
108
94
170
167
155
121
192
165
104
177
244
295
150
126
116
128
173
154
214
167
96
95
165
161
110
121
98
219
315
337
366
257
298
310
460
346
225
270
359
217
138
287
280
288
171
345
334
227
284
439
499
315
233
218
232
324
261
405
266
214
207
361
370
238
235
175
436
Harvey
Haskell
Hodgeman
Jackson
Jefferson
Jewell
Johnson
Kearny
Kingman
Kiowa
Labette
Lane
Leavenworth
Lincoln
Linn
Logan
Lyon
McPherson
Marion
Marshall
Meade
Miami
Mitchell
Montgomery
Morris
Morton
Nemaha
Neosho
Ness
Norton
Osage
Osborne
Ottawa
Pawnee
Phillips
Pottawatomie
Pratt
Rawlins
Reno
Republic
Rice
1870
80
---20
22
2
23
---9
-29
5
17
-23
6
13
10
-21
3
5
1
-12
11
--12
2
7
--18
---5
3
12
-3
17
20
8
23
3
4
-13
2
21
8
12
-17
11
14
14
2
17
9
12
11
-15
11
2
3
15
6
10
6
5
14
4
2
8
9
10
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Table 2. Continued
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
90
1900
10
20
25
30
26
5
7
26
27
17
40
7
14
9
21
5
33
13
21
7
21
21
22
23
6
28
17
21
20
5
28
20
7
10
23
11
18
12
11
19
11
7
19
22
20
23
3
3
29
30
18
46
5
10
4
20
4
37
12
20
3
20
21
18
28
3
28
16
20
16
3
33
20
3
8
22
10
16
8
11
24
3
4
16
23
19
71
11
19
60
64
54
106
16
40
31
39
15
60
39
36
13
42
61
56
69
20
51
49
39
44
9
84
41
18
27
43
34
43
49
33
45
55
17
59
96
58
102
21
28
98
107
72
151
21
61
48
68
23
107
62
65
15
80
109
95
111
27
88
71
64
78
19
130
68
31
40
74
51
71
69
48
74
73
33
89
95
90
84
20
25
75
80
57
149
19
40
36
47
21
87
51
45
18
63
80
72
84
23
69
60
49
62
16
85
49
30
35
58
46
56
56
40
60
51
30
68
80
71
84
38
31
66
68
52
136
20
48
39
40
25
76
51
41
16
57
83
75
80
33
57
55
42
54
22
84
43
34
33
58
38
49
56
35
58
58
31
74
76
72
35
40
45
50
54
59
64
69
74
70
18
15
33
40
26
75
11
40
23
28
13
51
27
23
8
33
64
46
43
19
31
33
31
33
8
46
29
18
17
31
21
38
40
18
32
43
19
62
38
54
87
37
31
39
48
36
101
18
52
34
37
28
52
40
30
13
39
81
55
55
29
45
48
39
38
18
62
33
32
22
37
34
47
60
28
40
62
25
74
47
76
124
86
59
58
82
54
155
47
73
51
50
63
81
62
47
37
69
125
88
84
65
61
74
57
82
49
83
55
64
38
60
47
71
97
38
58
87
51
112
79
96
155
100
59
66
89
64
180
51
97
66
69
74
92
72
60
46
75
137
99
82
62
86
85
78
72
65
88
64
65
47
69
62
88
115
49
79
117
63
149
85
130
177
113
78
83
11
72
306
68
117
86
92
80
135
84
80
55
104
172
120
109
78
117
108
102
97
89
116
95
77
61
99
69
113
129
56
101
128
77
154
101
143
214
151
102
108
170
105
342
88
139
100
94
103
177
113
102
77
121
173
149
116
97
157
140
123
115
92
126
126
95
80
109
98
133
144
78
114
133
99
99
132
162
290
203
122
170
242
141
590
98
185
110
89
133
288
130
184
85
166
245
192
178
125
268
166
180
147
101
209
191
106
97
167
124
162
174
117
150
157
100
94
199
184
515
471
211
293
420
257
1081
250
358
210
359
208
538
244
302
175
286
472
334
325
232
540
301
353
260
201
324
337
256
203
319
214
283
305
200
276
313
206
395
331
351
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
Riley
Rooks
Rush
Russell
Saline
Scott
Sedgwick
Seward
Shawnee
Sheridan
7
Smith
Stafford
Stanton
Stevens
Sumner
Thomas
Trego
Wabaunsee
Wallace
Washington
Wichita
Wilson
Woodson
Wyandotte
18
---10
-7
-36
--4
------11
-9
-11
12
31
12
4
4
7
15
-13
-26
2
-6
4
--9
2
4
10
3
11
-12
12
39
20
9
9
11
24
4
29
7
43
6
6
13
10
5
5
21
6
7
19
6
21
4
20
16
118
20
7
9
11
19
3
25
2
34
5
3
12
10
4
3
18
4
6
17
3
24
3
17
17
106
47
32
37
35
51
16
76
14
69
21
13
41
51
8
11
50
19
21
38
11
58
11
35
34
193
79
44
51
47
99
21
111
24
122
30
27
67
79
20
30
85
30
30
63
18
84
16
62
57
210
69
36
49
40
77
23
92
24
98
30
29
49
61
16
25
62
27
28
56
18
66
16
45
47
255
71
29
52
40
70
21
102
30
92
29
23
45
64
23
30
63
29
31
51
16
63
18
40
36
254
40
19
38
27
44
16
64
19
67
20
15
30
46
15
22
43
20
21
30
8
41
11
23
23
141
39
18
33
27
47
13
71
14
60
15
11
18
46
8
14
47
15
16
26
6
38
9
26
21
197
52
28
45
41
75
24
90
29
69
26
23
31
69
24
24
61
25
29
36
11
45
21
33
27
164
79
49
77
60
104
65
139
56
91
50
39
36
89
61
64
88
59
50
52
31
62
62
49
44
280
81
55
98
74
112
77
185
58
118
61
67
57
106
56
71
123
72
62
70
38
75
73
73
64
330
122
68
102
83
137
88
211
77
169
78
77
76
119
92
94
161
83
65
83
45
97
105
96
77
509
143
85
125
101
163
147
247
101
197
103
111
90
136
108
107
191
98
96
98
73
113
139
114
102
438
184
105
135
117
181
161
330
148
277
126
144
124
182
132
164
242
129
98
138
94
162
162
160
154
702
323
203
262
211
304
308
569
385
442
265
339
290
318
305
341
489
316
216
257
190
346
326
304
261
1194
13
11
19
15
40
62
50
49
31
30
41
66
80
100
122
159
301
1. 1870 to 1959: from Pressly and Scofield, Farm Real Estate Values in the United States by Counties, 1850- 1959. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1965 to 1974 taken from Census of Agriculture.
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service
has been archived. Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
This publication from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station
and Cooperative Extension Service has been archived.
Current information is available from http://www.ksre.ksu.edu.
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available and open to the public regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion.