No-till Farming Study Shows Benefit to Midwestern Land Values

No-till farming, considered to be a more environmentally friendly farming practice that reduces soil disturbance when compared with conventional practices, appears to have an important benefit besides reducing soil erosion and nutrient runoff. 

A new study from North Carolina State University, capturing county-level data from 12 states in the U.S. Midwest, shows that no-till farming increases agricultural land values, with a 1% increase in no-till farming translating to a $7.86 per acre increase in land values across the Midwest. In Iowa, the data show a $14.75 per acre increase in land value with a 1% increase in no-till farming.

Rod Rejesus, professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work, said the study appears to be the first in the academic literature to quantify monetary land value benefits of no-till farming.

“This study suggests that farmland benefits translate into land value benefits, which is typically not considered in debates on no-till pros and cons, and ultimately whether or not conventional-till farmers should convert to no-till practices,” Rejesus said. 

No-till farming practices leave crop residue on farmlands after harvesting. Farmers plant seeds the following season through the remaining residue. No-till farming typically reduces labor and fuel costs for farmers when compared with traditional practices, although the academic literature also shows disparities in terms of no-till effects on crop yields and soil productivity. About 37% of U.S. farm acreage uses no-till farming, with strong adoption rates in the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic states and the Midwest.

The study examined two large data sets to answer the question of whether farmland value benefits of no-till farming could be quantified. One set captured agricultural census farmland survey responses in 12 Midwestern states that asked farmers about the current market value of their lands; these were reported in five-year intervals from 2007 to 2017.

The second data set focused solely on Iowa farmland and surveyed experts from that state – farmers, real estate professionals and others – about average farm land values. The data set was collected annually from 2005-2016.

The researchers then separately combined these land value data sets with satellite-based data on no-till uptake at the county level in the 12 states studied. 

“This is a tick in the benefits checkbox for no-till farming,” Rejesus said. “Spreading the word about these farmland value benefits could help draw more farmers to the practice and induce landowners to encourage this practice among their tenants.”