Farm Incomes Up

According to analysis from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and the University of Minnesota, 2010 was a better year for farming than 2009. Much of the gain was due to increased profits in hog farming, but crop farmers also had a profitable year in 2010.

The positive news was based on the responses of about 2,450 farmers in the state, who report in to the "FINBIN - Farm Financial Database." The FINBIN website is located here:

http://www.finbin.umn.edu/

And is definitely worth exploring. Out of curiousity, I checked on land rent rates for corn farmers in Minnesota. In 2010, the average land rent cost was $143.62, which was about right (maybe even a little low) for our area. I looked at sugar beets, and the land rent average was $104.07 in the state - but that is obviously low for our area. Instead, I looked just at Kandiyohi County and the surroundiung counties, and the average land rent was $166.10 in 2010 - which sounds a lot more realistic for this region.

In addition to land rent costs for specific crops, the FINBIN database also includes information on other expenses ranging from seed and fertilizer to custom farming and hired labor to machinery leases and repair expenses. It's a great set of data for benchmarking your operation.

If you want help with farm management or appraising your agricultural land in the face of rising land rent prices and increasing farm profits, please give me a call at 320-894-7528. Weather permitting, I'll be in the fields for planting soon, but I am still available to help you with all of your real estate needs.

Warmest,

Noah Hultgren
The FarmlandMan
www.farmlandman.com

p.s. Congratulations again to the MACCRAY Boys Basketball team on finishing 3rd in State! As a former Wolverine basketball player on the last team that went to state (in 1996), I was proud to watch all of the games and excited to see us so well-represented!