Answers · Land Value & Appraisal
How is farmland appraised?
Farmland is appraised primarily by the sales comparison approach — recent sales of similar land, adjusted for soil, water, access, and improvements — cross-checked by the income approach, which capitalizes cash rent. A qualified ag appraisal takes 2–6 weeks and typically costs $2,000–$6,000 depending on complexity.
The sales comparison approach carries the most weight. The appraiser finds 3–6 recent sales of comparable land in the area, then adjusts each for differences: soil productivity, irrigation, parcel size, road frontage, drainage, and buildings. The adjusted comps bracket a value per acre, which gets multiplied across your deeded acres.
The income approach serves as the sanity check. If comparable ground rents for $300 per acre and investors in the area accept a 3.5% return, the income approach implies roughly $8,500 per acre. When the sales approach says $12,000, the appraiser must explain the gap — usually development pressure, recreational demand, or a thin comp set.
Improvements get valued separately, often by depreciated replacement cost: grain storage, shops, irrigation systems, permanent plantings. On a working farm, the land itself usually carries 70–90% of total value, which is why lenders scrutinize the per-acre number harder than the building line.
The Turnrow angle
Turnrow orders a full ag appraisal on every loan and lends up to 70% of the appraised value. The appraiser's calendar is the long pole in our 2–4 week closings — everything else moves faster.
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