Agricultural land values in Montezuma County have increased significantly over the past two years - from 26 to 68 percent for certain classes of irrigated land and 50 to 160 percent for certain classes of dry land - according to 2015 property revaluation data from the county assessor's office.
The reasons behind the jumps are multifaceted and can largely be attributed to an increase in commodity prices, favorable changes to the 10-year running average used to calculate local values, and a rise in projected incomes, said county assessor Scott Davis.
Compared with the last revaluation cycle in 2013, Davis says an increase this significant was head-turning.
"It was unusual. It didn't affect all the Ag land, but it affected primarily irrigated stuff and dry farm," said Davis.
Agricultural land values are tied to a 10-year average for prices of commodities. As lower prices of 2002 and 2003 dropped off, higher commodity prices recorded in 2012 and 2013 were included.
In terms of irrigated agriculture, hay commodity prices increased 21 percent, rising from $127.40 per ton in 2013 to 154.17 per ton in 2015. Hay yield also rose 7.5 percent, from 3.265 in 2013 to 3.505 in 2015.
Two bad years, 2002 and 2003, dropped off the 10-year running average used to calculate valuation.
Values for dry land saw some of the largest increases, correlating to an increase in wheat prices.
Wheat, one of the most widely produced crops in the county, rose from 4.64 per bushel in 2014 to 5.49 per bushel in 2015, an 18.3 percent increase.
Land owners had until June 1 to protest their valuation, used to determine the amount of property tax levied, but Davis says his office hasn't seen much discontent.
"I think we've had one (protest revaluation)," said Davis. "Everyone has been amazingly understanding about it."
Valuations on the residential and commercial side remained relatively stagnant this revaluation cycle, Davis said, but predicts that may not be the case two years from now.
"We always lag behind by about two years compared to the Front Range, and right now their market is booming," said Davis. "Two years from now when we see these notices going out again, I think we'll see residential definitely go up."
