How did the ethanol boom of the 2000s impact farm values in the Midwest?

The U.S. ethanol industry experienced its first major "boom" in the early 2000s, thanks to changes in U.S. energy policies—particularly biofuel mandates—along with the surging crude oil prices and the phaseout of a fuel additive, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). In response, corn prices rose by as much as 31% and, according to a new study from South Dakota State University's Ness School of Management and Economics, farmland values in ethanol-producing states increased by as much as 44%.