Land Values - Micro and macro

Here is a link to a paper forwarded to me by University of California economist Roberta Cook about the farm real estate markets in Florida and California. The paper, written by John Reynolds and Warren Johnston, is titled "Micro Markets for Farmland: The case of California and Florida." The authors say a statewide average price for farm land isn't too helpful. From the paper:

The average per acre statewide value of farm real estate, whether for Florida’s 44,000 farms, or for California’s 87,500 farms, is a singular statistic of dubious “value.” It is akin to imagining whether Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, prior to their departure on the Expedition 200 years ago, would have found it of value to know the average depth of the Missouri River from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to its junction with the Mississippi. Probably not.

TK: As referenced in an earlier post, here is the USDA site for average farmland value, for what little it may be worth.