Most farmers across Kansas will likely be seeing an increase in their land valuations this year.
The Kansas Department of Revenue says the 2017 agriculture valuations are expected to increase by $31 up to $184 per acre of dry land.
The valuations are set using an eight-year average of weighted annual prices from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Revenue Department’s Jeannine Koranda says taking an average evens out fluctuations in commodity prices and creates a more stable and predictable valuation.
"The eight years that they’re looking back on right now encompasses some years where crop valuations were setting records for their prices, and commodity prices have come down," Koranda says. "So the land valuations are slightly higher than what they may be getting for crops right now."
She says agriculture values vary greatly county by county. Doniphan County in northeast Kansas increased by $128 to 1,018 per acre of dry land, while farmers in Grant County will actually see a decline in their land values.
Kansas has used an eight-year average to calculate agriculture valuations since 1989.
"The reason that we do this eight-year average is because it evens the process for everyone," Koranda says. "It evens it out for the taxing jurisdictions, and it evens it out for the farmers because otherwise, you are always going through a boom-bust cycle."
