I was fortunate enough this semester to take Economics 364: Rural Property Appraisal with Mike Duffy. It was the fourth time this course had been taught to around 30 students from various majors. The course was extremely valuable, and very applicable to future real-life scenarios involving land acquisition and transfer, which many students at Iowa State will face in their lifetimes. As we all know, the value of agricultural land has been drastically changing, and there are fewer people available to help document these changes.

The American Association of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers has invested tremendously in this course, because they know that the field of appraisal is growing exponentially and will provide many jobs to Iowa State graduates. Further, this course provides important experiences and knowledge that graduates will utilize in their futures. However, because there is no one to teach the course next year, most likely because of budget issues, this course will not be offered.

As a student who values the opportunity to learn practical skills for my future, I just wanted to alert students who would be interested in this course to contact the Interim Chair of the Economics Department, as well as the Deans of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and encourage them to keep this valuable course. Future students should not be denied the ability to access the important and increasingly applicable knowledge available in Economics 364: Rural Property Appraisal.