Jacksonville, IL. Dec. 10, 2024 – The 2025 edition of the Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends Report will be available as a free pdf download when it becomes available in March 2025. The publication is produced annually by the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
This is according to Luke Worrell, AFM, ALC, Worrell Land Services, Jacksonville, IL overall chair of the project for the group. “It’s a matter of simple economics,” Worrell explains. “The Report has been averaging 124 pages and weighs in at a little over one pound. To print and mail copies will be costing the Society around $20 or more per issue; there are postage increases coming in 2025. That’s getting too rich for a lot of folks, so we decided to offer the entire book as a downloadable pdf file from our web site. At no charge.”
Worrell explains that there will be a limited number of printed copies that will be available to advertisers and members who like to hand-deliver the Report to special clients each year. “We will also have a complimentary copy to give to everyone attending our annual Land Values Conference. That will be held March 27 in Bloomington.” Individuals will also be able to order print copies. “We’ll know the price on those once the book is printed, and will depend on how many someone may want,” Worrell states.
“By going electronic we can offer some special features for readers and advertisers which were not available in printed copies,” he explains. “Readers will be able to go to the page that shows the regional maps of the state, ‘click’ on a region of interest, and be taken immediately to the first page of that region in the Report. Plus, they will be able to ‘click’ on most ads and be taken directly to that advertiser’s web site.”
He adds that anyone who wants can pre-order a free copy of the Report now by signing on at the Society’s website www.ispfmra.org. They will automatically be given link information when the book becomes available in March. They will then have 30 minutes to download the Report.
Copies of the printed report will also be available for ordering online with payment by credit card. “That will come in March when the final book is produced and we know what costs are involved,” Worrell explained.
The annual Report covers Illinois farmland sales and trends from the previous year divided into ten geographic regions of the state. There is information on anticipated land sales and lease trends and includes historic summaries by regions. There are also forecasts for lease rates by farmland Productivity Index.