September 2022 Wallace’s Farmer “MarketPlace Extra”

Does it seem like the world is spinning fast right now? As I visit with people throughout Iowa and across the Midwest, the fast pace of change for all kinds of activity, is a common theme. There are few markets that have changed as much (or as quickly) as the farmland market of the past 2 years. During this time, all the factors came together to create a “Goldilocks” market – strong crop yields, historically high commodity prices, generationally low interest rates, and more demand than supply of farms to buy.

Since late June, however, we’ve started to observe some shifts in the factors that have combined to drive the market higher over the past 2 years. Specifically, grain prices have softened from their early summer highs, and interest rates have increased. There’s still a great demand for farmland. But, it seems the land market has started to plateau for the best quality farms, and we’ve just started to see a little weakness emerge in a few places in the poorer quality farms being offered at auction. It’s certainly not all negative – but clearly, with some of the mid-summer shifts in the factors that influence land values, the Goldilocks market is no longer. This does not mean that strong sales won’t occur, as the recent sales below can attest. However, it does mean that not every sale will be a new record.

NORTHWEST

Palo Alto County:

65 +/- acres, located northeast of Ayrshire, recently sold at public auction for $19,400 per acre. The farm consisted of 64 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 86.1, and equaled $229/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL

Wright County:

143 +/- acres, located near Kanawha, recently sold for $15,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 137 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 79.2, and equaled $199/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTHEAST

Fayette County:

152 +/- acres, located near Maynard, recently sold at public auction for $12,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 146 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 84.6, and equaled $154/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

WEST CENTRAL

Calhoun County:

91 +/- acres, located southeast of Somers, recently sold at public auction for $17,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 90 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 86.5, and equaled $200/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL

Marshall County:

120 +/- acres, located northwest of State Center, recently sold at public auction for $9,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 114 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 69.8, and equaled $137/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm was divided by a stream, and 12 of the 114 tillable acres are enrolled in CRP contracts.

EAST CENTRAL

Linn County:

41 +/- acres, located north of Marion, recently sold at public auction for $19,700 per acre. The farm consisted of 39 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 86.0, and equaled $241/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHWEST

Mills County:

167 +/- acres, located just east of Tabor, recently sold at online auction for $12,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 161 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 84.5, and equaled $147/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm included several terraces and waterways.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Wayne County:                                                                                                          

160 +/- acres, located south of Clio, recently sold at public auction for $7,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 159 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 52.0, and equaled $139/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHEAST

Jefferson County:

154 +/- acres, located north of Batavia, recently sold at online auction for $10,400 per acre. The farm consisted of 144 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 73.8, and equaled $151/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

Hertz Real Estate Services compiled this list, but not all sales were handled by Hertz. Call Hertz at 515-382-1500/800-593-5263 or visit www.Hertz.ag.