September 2026 Wallace’s Farmer MarketPlace Extra

As we approach another harvest season in Iowa, we can look back on the 2026 land market thus far and see a very stable market. The two most recent quarterly land value reports from the Chicago Fed Reserve Bank were reported to be 2% stronger and 1% weaker, respectively. Net pricing changes this minor define a flat, sideways trading market.

Will this pricing stability continue this fall? And, will there be more land sale volume offered to the market compared to recent years? To many market observers, including our team at Hertz Farm Management, these are chicken-and-egg questions. Which one leads – pricing or volume? They are closely related, for sure, but they are not fully locked together. Sometimes, other factors and influences including tax consequences, impact sale decisions for farmland assets. However, during my career I have experienced that higher land prices tend to lead to higher sale volume from landowners who have recently inherited property, upon whom tax consequences are more muted by virtue of a stepped-up tax basis.

My instinct says a stable land market like we’ve enjoyed up to and through the summer, having been buoyed for some time now by $4.50 corn and a pile of government payments, can and will absorb a bit of an uptick in volume this fall. As I review recent sales, most of them fall within a loose range from $145 to $190/CSR2/tillable acre. There have also been a few “eyebrow raisers” – strong sales above that range that don’t make tons of sense in these tight margin times. But I believe it is important to recognize that these surprisingly strong sales are not the trend, and they are often driven by one-off local neighborhood dynamics.

NORTHWEST

Clay County:

Located south of Dickens, 83 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $15,800 per acre. The farm consisted of 82 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 (Corn Suitability Rating index) of 95.0, and equaled $168 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL

Wright County:

Located southwest of Kanawha, 80 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $16,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 78 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 74.6, and equaled $227 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTHEAST

Buchanan County:

Located southwest of Independence, 103 +/- acres recently sold for $11,650 per acre. The farm consisted of 100 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 74.6, and equaled $161 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

WEST CENTRAL

Calhoun County:

Located southwest of Lohrville, 80 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $14,200 per acre. The farm consisted of 79 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 86.9, and equaled $165 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL

Jasper County:

Located southwest of Kilduff, 66 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $18,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 64 +/- cropland acres with a CSR2 of 89.4, and equaled $208 per CSR2 point on the cropland acres.

EAST CENTRAL

Linn County:

Located east of Coggon, 80 +/- acres recently sold for $15,200 per acre. The farm consisted of 78 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 83.4, and equaled $187 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHWEST

Fremont County:

Located southwest of Randolph, 144 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $7,300 per acre. The farm consisted of 120 +/- tillable acres with an average CSR2 of 83.4, and equaled $105 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm was cut into multiple fields by timber, ditches, and terraces, which made access and farming efficiency a challenge.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Wayne County:

Located south of Confidence, 81 +/- acres recently sold for $4,650 per acre. The farm consisted of 70 +/- tillable acres with an average CSR2 of 36.9, and equaled $146 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. 

SOUTHEAST

Des Moines County:

Located south of Danville, 34 +/- acres recently sold via public auction for $12,475 per acre. The farm has 33 +/- tillable with a CSR2 of 86.8, and equaled $148 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. 

Doug Hensley is President of Hertz Real Estate Services at Hertz Farm Management, a leading farmland brokerage and management firm serving landowners across the Midwest. The company specializes in farmland sales, farm management, and agricultural appraisals. Call us at 800-593-5263  or visit hertz.ag.

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