Soaring farmland prices are attracting attention from private equity firms, the Associated Press reported.

In the past year, a number of deals for private equity firms to buy farm and ranch land have been completed, and several more are being negotiated. High demand for corn and ethanol is responsible for rising land prices. High-quality farmland in places such as Illinois, Iowa and Indiana have climbed from about $4,200 to $5,200 per acre.

According to Joel Hertz, chairman of the board of Hertz Farm Management in Monticello, Ill., the annual return from crops has been 3 to 5 percent a year, not including land appreciation. Hertz said land values in some parts of Iowa have increased 20 to 30 percent in the last 16 months. Although private equity investors can’t trade farmland as they would trade stocks and bonds, he said the investment is attractive because farmland has “very little volatility and has very consistent earnings.”

“It’s a seller’s market,” Hertz said. “There’s very little land, and a lot of people looking to buy.”