Bullard: concerned U.S. farmland may suffer a bubble in price

JONESBORO, Ark. Feb 13 (Reuters) - Ultra-low U.S. interest rates may be contributing to the strong rise in the price of the nation's farmland but high crop values could also be heating up the market, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.

"I continue to be concerned about the prospect for a land price bubble in the United States," St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard told an agribusiness conference hosted by Arkansas State University.

Responding to audience questions, Bullard also said the United States' total debt was "flirting" with levels that were unsustainable, based on economic research of nations whose debt levels had risen above 90 percent of gross domestic product.