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An annual survey conducted by Iowa State University Extension shows the value of Iowa Farmland decreasing by 2.2 percent in 2009; the first decrease in the statewide average in a decade. Locally, the value of an acre of farmland in Marion County decreased by 4.51 percent to $3,765 – a loss of $178 per acre from last year. The statewide average value for an acre of farmland is $4,371.

Nearby Jasper County saw a 3.21 percent decrease in farmland value to an average of $4,343 per acre; and the average acre in Mahaska County was valued at $3,867, which was a 3.0 percent decrease from 2008.

The last time the statewide average dropped was in 1999, when the value per acre dropped by $20 to $1,781 an acre. Since then, farmland owners have seen their property increase in value by an average of 145 percent.

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