The rural West, on clearance

Statistics released by the USDA yesterday paint a sobering economic portrait of the rural West.  

The agency reported declines in agricultural land values across the country for the first time in more than 20 years. And it’s the Mountain states that have been clobbered worst of all.

Montana farmland values fell a whopping 22.2 percent from 2008 to 2009, compared to an average 3.2 percent decline nationwide, and 10.5 percent drop in the Mountain state region.

But anyone looking for a real steal should head to New Mexico, which claims the cheapest farmland in the country at an average $480 an acre. Just how dirt-cheap is that? It’s pretty bottom of the barrel compared to the nation’s most expensive farmland, found in Rhode Island, which commands $15,300 per acre.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

The USDA's report is consistent with what farmers, ranchers and bankers have been seeing over the past few months. Some farmland in the Plains, for example, has fared better because grain prices, while coming off their highs, remain relatively strong.

On the other hand, the Mountain states have seen bigger declines largely because of the prevalence of livestock. Cattle ranchers have been struggling amid low cattle prices and high feed prices.