Differences Between Agricultural Land Value Surveys and Market Sales

Statewide agricultural land values from 3,243 arms-length market sales in North Dakota between 2001 and 2004 were 6 percent higher than estimates derived from the June Agricultural Survey (JAS) of National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and 9 percent higher than values from the North Dakota Land Value Survey (NDLVS). These surveymarket sale differences varied substantially in particular regions and counties and over time. The geographic information system (GIS) technique of 'kriging' was used to interpolate point-based market and JAS land values statewide in a continuous (raster) format. Few counties contained homogenous land values and differences between market sales and the JAS were quite large in several specific (sub-county) areas. Opinionbased surveys are therefore considered reasonably accurate and useful for statewide or regional applications but are likely insufficient for county and more site specific valuation analyses unless such survey data is spatially interpolated (kriged) and disseminated using GIS technologies.