Kern County farmland values continue downward slide
Farmland valuations continued their downward trajectory in Kern County, in some cases dropping a whopping 47.6% over the first six months of 2024, according to the second quarter Kern County Ag Land Values report put out by brokerage firm Alliance Ag Services LLC. Some farmland has dropped back to, or even below, 2005 prices. “I don’t think we’re at the bottom yet, but it feels like it’s getting closer,” said Ag Alliance broker Michael Ming. Alliance Ag has been tracking the value of farmland in Kern County by water source for nearly two decades. Since the crippling 2012-2016 drought and passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the numbers have been mostly dismal. The future value of farmland will all depend on water, he said. … Reduced water supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and increased groundwater pumping restrictions under SGMA mean more than 900,000 acres in the Central Valley will likely have to go out of production.
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