By Lois Henry, SJV Water
Reliable access to water remained a dominant factor in agricultural land valleys in Kern County over 2025, according to data compiled by brokerage and appraisal company Alliance Ag.
Sales data from the past 21 years clearly show a “SGMA effect” that has driven prices down overall since the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014.
The good news is that it appears land values dropped less steeply in 2025 and may even have bottomed out in some water category districts.
For instance, open farmland in State Water Project contract districts in far western Kern County have retained values of between about $2,000 and and $5,000 an acre from 2022 through 2025.
In the the Semitropic and Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa water storage districts and Cawelo Water District, also state water contractors, open farmland values on the low range have stabilized at about $2,000 an acre and have slowed their decline in the higher range, ending 2025 at about $13,000 an acre.
Land values in districts with Kern River rights have fared the best even as they declined, ending 2025 at between $12,000 and $23,000 an acre.
So-called “white lands,” meaning land outside of water district boundaries that rely almost exclusively on groundwater, have lingered at between $2,000 and $3,000 an acre for the past three years.
The data shows an upward tick in higher value farmland in federal water districts between 2024 and 2025 going from about $16,000 to $18,000 an acre. But appraiser Michael Ming attributed that to limited sales data.
Values for producing pistachio and almond orchards continued to drop, likely a result of declining crop values, Ming said.
On the bright side, Ming noted that: “More properties are in negotiations and escrow than we have seen in a couple of years.”
He credited the increased activity to existing farmers buying at discounted prices and the influx of international money.
