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While the cash rent market in much of the Midwest is flat, Farmers National Company President Jim Farrell says land prices have stabilized and have started to go up. He tells Brownfield the previous drop in commodity prices has been stemmed somewhat by the really wet fall which has made for “nice increases” in commodity prices in the past 50 days or so. That’s affected land prices, “The cash rent market, however, in much of the Midwest is flat going into 2010, especially if the cash rents that were negotiated in 2009 were market,” he says. Farrell says there’s a “tremendous discrepancy” in cash rents from farm to farm right now, “Cash rents escalated almost as rapidly as land values did. So, when we had 70 to 80 percent appreciation in five years, cash rents went up at least that much as well in many locales. Many landowners didn’t raise their cash rents that much. They were still going up five percent a year.” Farrell says it’s not unusual in the central Midwest to have 50 to 125 dollars an acre difference from one farm to the next. He says it simply depends on how well informed the land owner is. As long as farmland remains demand driven, Farrell says, land values will likely continue to grow strong, “Generally in agriculture we’re in a supply market and it’s how much supply we have which drives the price. Right now we’re in a demand market which has been highly unusual for my experience in ag – on the grain side especially, not so much on the meats, but on the grain side.” Farrell tells Brownfield it’s a seller’s market in this recession. With the uncertainty of getting as good a return on it if they sold it coupled with government uncertainty, Farrell says, more people are holding on to their land, “The potential tax law changes that are being considered, the health insurance program, cap and trade it seems like everything is in a state of flux right now and people are very reluctant to make big decisions.” Farrell says people are selling fewer farms as a result. Farmers National’s land sales are down about 25 percent this year. Farmers National is the largest farm and ranch management company in the U.S. Farmers National Company AUDIO: Farmer s National Company, President and CEO Jim Farrell (5 min., MP3)

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner talk about their book, SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on November 4, 2009. With Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner revealed the good, bad, ugly and super freaky of the world around us. The freakquel is here. Back with more than pop-culture trivia, Inforum's next 21st Century Visionary Award recipients are ready to revolutionize our understanding of causality in an incredibly interconnected world. - Commonwealth Club of California Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author and journalist who lives in New York City. He is the co-author, with Steven D. Levitt, of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. He is also the author of Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family (1998), Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (2003), and a children's book, The Boy With Two Belly Buttons (2007). Steve Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. Levitt received his BA from Harvard University in 1989 and his PhD from MIT in 1994. He has taught at Chicago since 1997. In 2004, Levitt was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the most influential economist under the age of 40. In 2006, he was named one of Time magazine's "100 People Who Shape Our World." Alan Murray is a Deputy Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal and Executive Editor for the Journal Online. He also has editorial responsibility for Wall Street Journal television, books, conferences, and the MarketWatch web site.

In Trader Hindsight, we look at the most popular markets and pick out the top trade of the week. While 20/20 vision is a great asset for finding great trades from the past, we also give legitimate reasons as to why you could have spotted the trade yourself. The aim is that this will help you spot some great trades in the future.Author: PaddyPowerTrader Tags: Spread Betting FSB CFD Trading Trade Finance Financial Markets Trader Hindsight FTSE equities stockmarkets Posted: 20 November 2009 Rating: 0.0 Votes: 0

The latest finance news here and abroad with Rebecca Hyam.

Chris Thompson's 20 November 2009 update.

SwineCast 0482 Show Notes: Informa Economics VP Dave Ryman hooks up with Bruce Cochrane for a good discussion of current economic issues across North America and his view of the timing for the eventual industry turning point.

Chris Thompson's 19 November 2009 update.

Dave Tucker, Campaigns Officer War on Want, discusses the corporate domination of europe and trade at all costs, elimatation of trade barriers and companies just doing what they want openly. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk