By How Much Can Appraised Farm Values Differ Across Appraisers?

We compared 54 appraisal reports, completed by nine Certified General Appraisers (CGAs) for three Iowa farms at two points in time (2019 and 2020), to evaluate the variability of appraised values and its causes. Our findings confirm that, despite the norms and regulations that CGAs abide by, the appraisal process is subjective in nature, and appraised values can differ by as much as 20% of their average appraised values. Furthermore, observed discrepancies in basic facts considered by CGAs to form their expert opinions on the value of a farm, such as tillable acres and productivity indexes, are non-trivial.