January 2024 Wallace’s Farmer MarketPlace Extra

“A New Year & A New Story?”

I grew up on a farm, so I know each new year always brings hopeful optimism for those in agriculture. We budget and plan based on realistic outcomes and 10-year APHs, but we drive and nurture to outperform those estimates. So, as I apply that same exercise to the land market, what can you expect for 2024?

We ended 2023 with a stable market, having plateaued from the incredible run-up from 2020-2022. In the second half of 2023, market-wide sales volume had noticeably slowed in comparison to 12 months prior, and some inputs (e.g., fertilizer prices) had softened leading into the 2024 crop year. These shifts in sales volume and input prices supported land prices.  However, much lower commodity prices and much higher interest rates, should point the market more negative. In this 2023 tug-of-war, it seems recent year profits (aka, cash piles) were still available to power many land purchases. So, strong liquidity/cash availability helped the land market remain resilient in the face of underlying pressures. Will this continue in the new year? I expect it will depend on the area. For the sales reported below, however, it is obvious that there is still more strength than weakness.

NORTHWEST

Lyon County:

80 +/- acres, located north of Little Rock, recently sold at public auction for $15,200 per acre. The farm consisted of 76 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 84.5, and equaled $189/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL

Hancock County:

147 +/- acres, located near Britt, recently sold at public auction for $11,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 146 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 60.6, and equaled $183/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTHEAST

Chickasaw County:

70 +/- acres, located west of Fredericksburg, recently sold at public auction for $16,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 70 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 88.3, and equaled $187/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

WEST CENTRAL

Ida County:

120 +/- acres, located northwest of Holstein, recently sold at public auction for $15,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 115 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 86.7, and equaled $182/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL

Boone County:

51 +/- acres, located east of Boone, recently sold at public auction for $17,600 per acre. The farm consisted of 50 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 85.7, and equaled $209/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

EAST CENTRAL

Scott County:

200 +/- acres, located northeast of Durant, recently sold for $16,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 185 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 79.9, and equaled $223/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This sale also included an older farmhouse and older farm buildings.

SOUTHWEST

Fremont County:

124 +/- acres, located northwest of Shenandoah, recently sold at public auction for $8,250 per acre. The farm consisted of 119 +/- tillable acres, with a CSR2 of 71.6, and equaled $120/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm included terraces throughout.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Madison County:

54 +/- acres, located northwest of Macksburg, recently sold at public auction for $8,250 per acre. The farm consisted of 41 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 51.4, and equaled $211/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHEAST

Lee County:

85 +/- acres, located southwest of Donnellson, recently sold at public auction for $11,600 per acre. The farm consisted of 85 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 55.1, and equaled $211/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.