美国国家公共电台 NPR--Farmland prices are up sharply. How did it get so expensive?

Farmland prices are up sharply. How did it get so expensive?

Transcript¹

Across the Midwest, farmland prices more than doubled over the past two years — making it difficult for young farmers to grow their businesses.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Farmland is a limited resource, and over the past year, there has been a sharp climb in the cost of buying it. The high prices make it harder for young farmers to build their businesses on land they can call their own. And as Katie Peikes reports from Iowa Public Radio, that's especially true as demand from investors² grows.

JOEL AMBROSE: Here we go. We have an online bid of 7,000. Asking 8,000.

KATIE PEIKES, BYLINE³: At this farmland auction⁴ in Jesup, Iowa, there's more than two dozen people attending in person, and lots of others are online and on the phone. Just a couple years ago, the final sale would have been near 7- or $8,000 an acre. But now it's a lot different.

AMBROSE: Eighteen-thousand nine hundred in the nine. Now 19,000. $19,000...

PEIKES: The winning bids topped more than 17- and $19,000 an acre.

BEN RIENSCHE: I was astounded⁵.

PEIKES: Jesup farmer Ben Riensche came to check out the prices. He didn't bid this time around, but recently at another auction, he bought 40 acres for $15,000 an acre.

RIENSCHE: It was way more than I ever hoped to pay. But we'll find out in a decade whether I was too high or too soon.

PEIKES: Farmland prices have rocketed, especially in the Midwest and the High Plains. Recently in Iowa, some farmland sold for no lower than $25,000 an acre. Andy Helgeson says it's just too much.

ANDY HELGESON: You go there, and you just get - I mean, basically, it's outmuscled That's what I call it.

PEIKES: Helgeson farms corn and soybeans in north central Iowa. He says he hasn't had any success at recent auctions⁶. Reid Thompson in central Illinois farms largely on leased farmland but bought his first farm seven years ago for about $10,000 an acre. He says while beginning farmers get loans to help them, they have less cash and equity⁷ than those who have been farming longer.

REID THOMPSON: The less cash you have, the more debt you're going to have to incur⁸. Same with less equity, the more debt you're going to have to incur. And so it's just going to limit when you can purchase and how much you can afford to pay.

PEIKES: So why is farmland costing so much now? Economists¹⁰ say things like good crop prices, a global food shortage, inflation and record-high government payments, largely from the pandemic. Randy Dickhut is the vice¹¹ president of real estate operations with Farmers National Company. The company manages farms and conducts real estate sales and farmland auctions, including the one in Jesup.

RANDY DICKHUT: Like last year, farmers had better yields than they thought, higher commodity prices. So they had some good income. They hadn't maybe bought anything for a while. And so when they came on the market, they were pretty aggressive buying it.

PEIKES: There's also lots of competition from investors, people like Bill Gates, America's biggest private owner of farmland. Iowa State University economist⁹ Wendong Zhang says investors see farmland as a way to diversify¹² their portfolio¹³, and there's more momentum¹⁴ from investors than in years past.

WENDONG ZHANG: During uncertain times when their stock's value could go down by 30%, their farmland could hold on to the value.

PEIKES: It's unclear whether farmland prices will stabilize¹⁵ or continue to rise. But the Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates again. Some experts say that could help drag the value of farmland down, which could help those young farmers looking to buy land.

For NPR News, I'm Katie Peikes in Ames, Iowa.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

6 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

13 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

14 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

15 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。