"US cropland values drop, but ranchland holds firm"

From Agrimoney:

Pastureland, for years the laggard of the US land market, is returning to prominence thanks to the improved profitability of livestock operations compared with arable peers, protecting ranches from the price falls seen in cropland.

The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, said that the farmland market in the first three months of 2014 extended a slowdown which set in last year, with year-on-year growth in the south-central Plains states such as Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma falling to 4.3%, the weakest in four years

In key central Corn Belt states, including Iowa, the top corn and soybean growing state, values fell 1% quarter on quarter, the first decline in five years.

Prices in Indiana and Illinois dropped by 4% - a pace of decline not exceeded in either state since 1985, during the land market crash fuelled by high interest rates.

Ranchland vs cropland

However, the overall falls disguised a two-tier market, with values of cropping land underperforming pastureland – a reflection of the divergent impact of lower crop prices on the arable and livestock sectors....MORE

Re: pasture, cattle prices have almost doubled over the last five years with herd size only expanding in the last few weeks. Weekly via FinViz: