Texas Irrigated Cropland Sees 9% Annual Gain

Mike Walsten

The value of irrigated Texas cropland rose 9% on an annual basis through the first quarter of 2012, according to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The quarterly survey found the value of dryland cropland was nearly unchanged while the value of ranchland was slightly weaker.

The Dallas Fed bank serves all of Texas as well as as southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana. On a district-wide basis, the survey found the value of irrigated cropland rose 8.8% on an annual basis and 1.8% versus the fourth quarter of 2011. The survey pegged the value of an average acre of irrigated cropland in the district at $1,843 an acre. The survey also found the value of dryland cropland within the district rose 0.8% annually and 5.3% on a quarter-v-quarter basis to an average district-wide value of $1,440 an acre. The survey pegged an average acre of district ranchland at $1,463 an acre, down 0.6% on an annual basis and down 0.9% on a quarterly basis.

For Texas, the survey pegged the value of an acre of irrigated cropland at $1,700, up 8.7% annually and 3.2% quarterly. It said an average acre of Texas dryland cropland was $1,467, up 0.6% annually and 5.2% quarterly. The value of an acre of Texas ranchland was placed at $1,752, down 0.7% annually and down 1% quarterly.

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