After two years of flat prices, Iowa farmland values shot 18.8% higher in the past six months, according to a survey released last week by the Realtors Land Institute (RLI) Iowa Chapter. It’s the biggest six-month increase since a 19.7% jump in RLI’s March 2011 survey.

The survey confirmed re­­ports of extremely strong farmland sales during the past few months, with some farms fetching more than $20,000 per acre.

“It shouldn’t surprise anybody that values are up...