This paper uses a national dataset from 1980 to 2010 of valuations and sales data by land use category from Quotable Value New Zealand to explore patterns in and potential drivers of values of rural land in New Zealand over time. Increasing our understanding of the drivers of rural land values will aid in informing how climate change and environmental policy may influence these values. Climate change brings with it an increased likelihood of extreme weather events, for example drought conditions and severe storms, which could plausibly influence the value of rural land through their impacts on the productivity of land. It is also likely to have profound impacts on global commodity prices. Efficient climate change policy could have significant impacts on the profitability of ruminant agriculture. Who bears the losses depends critically on how land values respond to the profitability of different land uses.