Will High Farm Land Prices Affect Illiana Expressway Plans?

The proposed Illiana Expressway would cut across farm land in South Lake County. The Post-Tribune's Cristin Nance details how land prices are rising for the 482 farms in Lake County that cover 127,742 acres because of increased demand for corn to produce ethanol.

A single crop is making farm land all over the country more valuable this spring: corn.

The ethanol production boom has boosted prices to close to $4 a bushel. As a result, farmers are expected to plant 90.5 million acres of corn -- a 15 percent increase over 2006.

There are now 114 ethanol refineries nationwide and another 80 under construction. Ethanol plants are popping up all over Indiana and (John) Bryant (Jr) said it's driving up land prices as well.

The estimated value of farm real estate for the county in 2002 was almost $3,000 per acre. Bryant has heard of land prices in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $6,000 range.

"It all depends on where you are," Bryant said.

What will the high land prices mean for the future of the Illiana Expressway?

Will farmers (or their children) be tempted to sell their land if the price is right? Or, will high land prices make it more likely that farmers will hold on to their valuable land?

Will the Illiana Expressway have to be built as an elevated roadway as a compromise to save land while providing a needed transportation route as truck traffic on the Borman Expressway increases in the future as well as provide Lake County with economic development opportunities?

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