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American farmland values skyrocket

American farmland values skyrocket

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com

American farmland real estate values jump by 18 percent over numbers from 2020 Q3 in a five-state region.

In the Seventh Federal Reserve District that includes all of Iowa and much of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, the Chicago Fed—aka the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago that serves the District—it is believed that the large increase in values is related to the higher crop prices achieved this year.

The 18 percent increase is the largest such jump in nearly 10 years, noted the Chicago Fed, and added that the valuation increase was aided by high incomes and low interest rates, and corn and soybean futures hitting multiyear peaks thanks to bad weather affecting yield.

On the downside, the high value of farmland adds to inflation concerns as raw material prices rise along with transportation rates—all bad news for consumers.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash 


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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.