Since the Department of Agriculture first conducted a census in 1850, the value of farmland has risen at an annual rate of 3.4%.

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If most people value gardens more than industrial farmland, is it right to deny them that choice, especially when the benefits of green belts flow mostly to the rich?

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The city's government is currently trying to change its status from farmland to construction land, which would see its value spiral towards that of the penthouse apartments which overlook it.

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The recent weakness in farmland prices, especially relative to stock prices, should make value players all the more interested in farms just now.

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Great swathes of farmland in northern China devoted to growing wheat will over time shift to high-value crops, such as vegetables and fruit.

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That could push down farmland values by half, a recipe for ruin for those who have borrowed against the value of their property.

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The land, which was sold to raise money for the Regeneration Investment Fund, varies in size and value from a former industrial site in the Cynon Valley to offices in a business park in Newport to farmland in Gwynedd.

BBC: Wales