July 2018 Wallace’s Farmer “MarketPlace Extra”

And with that, the farmland market across the state of Iowa remains stable.  This is the time of year when many farmland owners who are considering their options for a land sale, begin to make decisions as the fall season approaches.  While summertime is typically not a high-volume time of year for land sales, farms do continue to come to the market.  At the present time, high-quality farms (e.g., productive soils, solid fertility and drainage, and high ‘farm-ability’) continue to draw the most interest and sell well, compared to those farms with poorer soils, waterways or other obstructions.  Farmers are the most prevalent group of buyers, although many non-farming investors are active across Iowa.

Keep the following topics in focus when analyzing the farmland market as we move through summer into fall.  First, the success of our current growing season will help establish the ‘mood in the countryside’ come this fall; growing another big crop is likely to be supportive to land values, while a poor growing season may foreshadow pressure on the land market.  Second, any meaningful increase in interest rates is likely to pressure farmland values.  With inflation picking up in the past 12-18 months, the Federal Reserve has continued to raise short-term rates, which will eventually translate into higher borrowing costs for longer-term maturity notes.  Third, any significant change in export trade policy (e.g., NAFTA, China, TPP) will directly impact our grain markets, and will also impact the countryside – positively or negatively.  As has been widely reported, the Trump Administration has more aggressively approached our major trading partners with its desire for fair play on the trade front; and, the aggressive approach has created nervousness in the grain complex.  Finally, with all the other motion, there’s been little attention given to the negotiations currently occurring in Congress that relate to the new Farm Bill, when in fact both the House and Senate have been proposing various adjustments to farm policy that will impact future years. This topic will very likely impact growers and farmland values.  Stay tuned for further analysis as new information surfaces on all these topics.

NORTHWEST
Pocahontas County: 

108 +/- acres, located east of Laurens, recently sold at public auction for $7,800 per acre. The farm, which had a lease in place for 2018, consisted of 104 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 81.7, and equaled $99/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL
Franklin County:

150 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $8,900 per acre. The farm consisted of 147 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 84. The sale equaled $108/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTHEAST
Delaware County:

103 +/- acres, located north of Greeley, recently sold for $4,230 per acre. The farm consisted of 97 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 37.2, and the sale equaled $120/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. The buyer was a local farmer.

WEST CENTRAL
Carroll County:

75 +/- acres, located in Richland Township, recently sold for $8,550 per acre. The farm consisted of 71 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 82.5.  The sale equaled $109/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL
Grundy County:

155 +/- acres, located in Melrose Township, recently sold at public auction for $6,600 per acre.  The farm consisted of 125 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 88.7.  The sale equaled $92/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

EAST CENTRAL
Benton County:

79 +/- acres, located north of Belle Plaine, recently sold at public auction for $13,200 per acre. The farm consisted of 75 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 97.9.  The sale equaled $142/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHWEST
Pottawattamie County:

97 +/- acres, located north of Oakland, recently sold at public auction for $12,400 per acre. The farm consisted of 92 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 81. The sale equaled $161/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTH CENTRAL
Warren County:

40 +/- acres, located northeast of Indianola, recently sold at public auction for $7,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 32 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 71.6.  The sale equaled $131/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHEAST
Louisa County:

46 +/- acres, located northeast of Ainsworth, recently sold for $5,097 per acre. The farm had 31 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 52.8; the balance of the acres included a residential building site, pasture, and timber. The sale equaled $143/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.

Posted By Hertz Farm Management on July 2, 2018