Mike Ming, owner of Ag Alliance Services, Inc., puts out a quarterly report looking at farmland valuations in Kern County.
Following the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), water access has become a key factor in land prices – and not in a good way.
Key takeaways in Ming’s 3rd quarter report include:
- Lands outside water districts on groundwater only dropped in value from 20% to 30% in 2018 and will drop 15% to 20% in 2019.
- Lands in districts without state and/or federal water contracts dropped in value from 5% to 20% in 2018 and will drop 10% to 15% in 2019.
- Districted lands with state and/or federal water contracts dropped in value from 0% to 10% in 2018 and will hold steady at that valuation 2019.
- Lands with water rights to Kern River water dropped in value from 0% to 5% in 2018 and will hold steady at that valuation in 2019.
Read Ming’s report here:
Quarterly Update 2019 Q3 Powerpoint
