DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A new survey of Iowa farmers says renting an acre of land to grow crops costs a state average of $255 an acre. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that’s an increase of $20 an acre from a year ago and is the highest since the department began compiling comparable records in 2008.

Farmers in Grundy County are paying $316 an acre and those in Ida County $314 an acre, the two highest. The lowest cash rents were paid in southern Iowa with Appanoose County listed at $150 an acre and Van Buren County at $156. Fifteen counties had average rent less than $200 per acre in 2013, compared with 20 counties in 2012.

Cash rent paid for pasture in Iowa, at $49 per acre, was up $3 from 2012.