Farmland Soars, Led by Nebraska and Kansas

A subject near and dear.*
For comparisons, the SPDR gold ETF was up 19.1% over the same period while the S&P 500 clocked in with a 13.37% gain, end Q1-10 to end Q1-11.
From Bloomberg:
Farmland Values Surge 20% in Central U.S., Kansas City Fed Says

Farmland values in the central U.S. surged in the first quarter as higher prices for crops and cattle sparked demand for rural properties, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said.

Average prices jumped 20 percent for irrigated and non- irrigated cropland in parts of seven states from the year- earlier quarter, with the biggest gains in Nebraska and Kansas, the bank said today in a report on its website. Ranchland rose 11 percent. More than two-thirds of rural bankers surveyed said land values will stabilize as growing season begins in the next three months.

“Shrinking crop inventories and intense competition for planted acreage lifted crop prices, while stronger protein demand boosted livestock prices,” Brian Briggeman and Mary Akers, bank economists, said in the report. “With robust farm income, farmland values posted sharp gains akin to the swift rise in 2008.”

The bank’s region includes all or parts of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, northern New Mexico and western Missouri. The Kansas City, Missouri-based bank’s quarterly survey included responses from 256 banks involved in agricultural lending.

Land values rose in tandem with commodity prices that have increased as the global economic recovery boosted demand, while adverse weather reduced grain supplies in exporting countries around the world....MORE 

Here's the release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City:
The Farm Boom Continues

K.C. Fed



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And many more going back to 2007. Use the search blog box, keyword 'farmland'.