By:

Chris Bastian and John P. Hewlett

Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming

August 1997, Experiment Station Bulletin, B- 1049

 The authors wish to thank and acknowledge the following individuals for the excellent cooperation received during the course of this project. Thanks goes to Arnie Altaffer, Steve Gleason, and the staff at Farm Credit Services, Casper; Dave Bartlett at Farm Credit Services, Scottsbluff, Nebraska; Dave Force, Jeffrey Weinstein, and the staff of the Wyoming Department of Public Lands, Cheyenne; and Don Sheppard of the Bureau of Land Management, Cheyenne for their assistance and cooperation in making data available. The authors would also like to acknowledge the help and cooperation of Ronald Spahr and Mark Sunderman, who assisted and cooperated in the data gathering effort.

The primary purpose of this report is to provide price information on Wyoming farm and ranch land sales occurring during 1993, 1994, and 1995. The objective is to show average sale prices for major types of agricultural land sold during this time period by regions within the state. This report does not, nor is it intended to, show values of specific land parcels. This report is an update of previous reports on Wyoming agricultural land prices. Additionally, a brief discussion of factors affecting land values and recent trends in land prices for Wyoming and the United States is included. The intended audience for this report includes those who may be interested or affected by the Wyoming agricultural land market, including farmers, ranchers, realtors, appraisers, lenders, investors, and others.

Wyoming agricultural land sales information was collected from appraisers’ sales reports from Farm Credit Services, the Wyoming Farm Loan Board, and the Bureau of Land Management. Report data came from 563 appraisal reports for sales of agricultural land, which included descriptions of individual tracts. Data was collected for the calendar years 1993, 1994, and 1995. Values were established for each of the following categories when included in a sale: 1) type of land (grazing land, irrigated and sub-irrigated pasture, irrigated meadow land, irrigated cropland, and dry cropland); 2) structural improvements; and 3) public and private grazing leases and permits. Additional sale details such as type of financing (owner, etc.), productivity, and method of irrigation were obtained from the sales reports when available.

Farm and ranch sale data used in the analysis are limited to those units that could be classified as true agricultural units. All land sale data was entered, and preliminary analysis was done to identify extremely high or extremely low sale prices. Those sales deemed as outliers, which did not represent true agricultural land sales, were excluded from analysis. Excluded from ranch unit analyses were ranch sales smaller than 50 animal units (AUs), rural home sales, and tracts with exceptionally high recreational and/or scenic value that caused prices to be significantly higher than the value of the land’s agricultural production would justify. Sales less than 50 AUs, but still representing purchases for agricultural use, were included in analyses of cropland or pasture land.

This report presents average market prices for agricultural lands sold in Wyoming during 1993, 1994, and 1995. Average market prices were reported on a per-animal-unit (AU) basis for ranches, and on a per-acre basis for grazing land, irrigated pasture, irrigated meadow land irrigated cropland, and dry cropland. Average market prices during 1993, 1994, and 1995 were reported for six regions of the state:

Region 1 - Johnson and Sheridan counties;

Region 2 - Campbell, Converse, Crook Niobrara, and Weston counties;

Region 3 - Albany, Goshen, Laramie, and Platte counties;

Region 4 - Carbon, Natrona, and Sweetwater counties;

Region 5 - Lincoln, Sublette, and Uinta counties;

Region 6 - Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie counties.

Prices for eastern plains ranches (regions 1, 2, and 3) averaged $2,420 per AU. Ranch prices for mountain valley-desert areas (regions 4, 5, and 6) averaged $1,695 per AU. The statewide average was $2,151 per AU. Statewide average ranch price per AU declined with increases in size of ranch sold. Prices also declined as the percentage of leased forage increased beyond 25 percent of total forage. Average values of assured leases and permits transferred when ranches were sold during 1993-95 were $70 per AUM (Animal Unit Month) for State, $41 per AUM for BLM, $40 per AUM for private leases, and $40 per AUM for railroad leases. Average value of improvements for ranches of 50 to 99 AUs was $44,440; 100 to 199 AUs, $49,509; 200 to 399 AUs, $59,752; 400 to 599 AUs, $70,049; and ranches 600 AUs and over, $121,109.

For grazing land, average prices were $88 per acre in the eastern plains and $58 per acre in mountain-valley desert areas. Statewide, the average price of grazing land was $80 per acre. Productivity, scenic, and recreational values were factors that seemed to explain most of the variation in grazing land prices. Large tracts and relatively low carrying capacity rangelands were usually associated with lower prices. Prices for irrigated and sub-irrigated pasture averaged $286 per acre statewide. Region 1 had the highest average price for irrigated pasture with $789 per acre, while region 2 had the lowest with $144 per acre. Irrigated meadow land averaged $774 per acre statewide. Region 1 had the highest irrigated meadow land average price at $1,122 per acre, while region 4 had the lowest at $508 per acre.

Important irrigated cropland areas in the state are regions 3 and 6. Region 3 averaged $776 per acre for irrigated cropland. Region 6 averaged $762 per acre. Statewide irrigated cropland averaged $834 per acre for 1993-95 sales.

The majority of dry cropland is in regions 1, 2, and 3. Region 1 averaged $893 per acre for dry cropland. Regions 2 and 3 averaged $349 and $213 per acre, respectively. An aggregated average for regions 4, 5, and 6 was $414 per acre. Statewide, price for dry cropland average $389 per acre.

Overall, prices for ranches in 1993-95 increased compared to 1990-92. However, the strongest increases were for ranches that ranged between 50 and 200 AU carrying capacity. Ranches larger than that experienced nearly the same to slightly decreased prices compared to the 1990-92 period. Cropland and pasture prices seem to continue a trend in strengthened prices since the bottom of the agricultural land market in 1987.

Both cash and crop share rental arrangements are used in Wyoming. Cash rental rates tend to vary year-by-year depending on crop prices, yields, and other factors.

Crop share arrangements, however, tend to be fairly stable over time. Typical crop share arrangements for landlords and tenants, respectively, are grains 1/3 - 2/3; dry beans 1/4 - 3/4; sugar beets 1/5 - 4/5; and hay 1/2 - 1/2.

Pasture rental rates on privately owned grazing land are typically quoted on a per AUM or cow-calf basis in Wyoming. Rates for cow-calf pairs ranged from $11.12 to $13.00 per month between 1991 and 1995 for Wyoming. Rates on a per AUM basis ranged between $9.93 and $11.30 for the same time period.

To Order the Full Report: Mail, phone or fax your order to Ag Communications Resource Center, PO Box 3313, Laramie, WY 82071-3313. Phone (307)766-2115, FAX (307)766-2800. The name of the publication is WYOMING FARM AND RANCH LAND MARKET: 1993-95. Bulletin # B-1049. Publication date: August 1997.

The following is the table of contents of the full report.

The UW CES Farm, Ranch, and Home Publications Catalog