Mike Walsten

Mike Walsten has covered major business trends in agriculture for more than 35 years. From the southern corn leaf blight of 1970 to today’'s biofuels focus, he’'s lived, reported and analyzed the impact of volatile markets on farm and ranch businesses and on land prices. After growing up on a grain and livestock farm in Western Illinois, Mike graduated from the University of Illinois with an undergraduate degree in agriculture communications and a master’'s degree in business administration in the early 1970s. Since then he’'s covered business and management issues as well as price outlook and marketing issues in various positions with Farm Journal Magazine and Professional Farmers of America. He now applies his extensive background and analytical skills to today’'s surprising farm and ranch market as editor of LandOwner.

Latest Stories
A key financial ratio we watch at LandOwner Newsletter suggests the financial health of the agriculture sector is still strong and not overly leveraged.
The average value of an acre of Iowa farmland is $6,951, which is a 2.9% increase for the six-month period ending March 1.
In the midst of the many uncertainties and tragedies due to the spreading COVID-19, the security offered by land ownership again shines through.
The quarterly survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finds strong gains in Texas ranch and cropland.
Kansas City Fed finds new highs posted in Central Plains farmland values.
The stronger land prices of late 2021 continued higher through the first half of 2022.
A survey of land pros find Iowa cropland values soared 33% higher versus year earlier.
Annual ISU survey finds an average acre of Iowa farmland rocketed 29% in 2021.