As noted market philosopher Jim Cramer is apt to say, “there is always a bull market somewhere.”  Apparently this past decade that bull market was in Iowa farmland.  This is in stark contrast to the domestic stock market has been a disaster in the past decade.  The guys at Bespoke call it “the ugly decade” for the S&P 500.

According to an Iowa State University survey, via the Des Moines Register, the average price of Iowa farmland has risen from $1781 per acre in 1999 to $4371 in 2009.  This despite a small 2% dip in the past year.  That equates to a 9.4% increase per year, compounded.

Source:  Des Moines Register

Nor does that figure does not take into account any return generated from the underlying farmland itself.  The article also notes the likelihood that Iowa farmland will continue to turnover as the average age of farmers continues to increase.

Some prominent analysts like Jim Rogers, via market folly, have been recommending farmland and agriculture in general as good investments for the next decade.  We have no idea whether these gains will continue into the next decade, but we thought it was worth a decade-long bull market happening right under our noses.