NCREIF has released the results of its third quarter 2013 Farmland Index, and the numbers are certainly improving. According to the report, the total third quarter returns were 2.94 percent, divided between 0.85 percent appreciation and a 2.09 percent income return. This was an improvement from the previous quarter’s return of 1.97 percent, and is the best third quarter the sector has seen since 2005.
The third quarter 2013 return numbers showed significant improvement over the third quarter 2012 return of 1.91 percent and the index’s third quarter average of 1.40 percent. The index also reported a trailing four-quarter return of 21.25 percent — the highest seen in nearly seven years and a significant improvement on the 17.64 percent four-quarter rolling return from a year ago.
“Third quarter 2013 returns were led by the Pacific West where many of the diverse crops grown in that regi
