March 2025 Wallace’s Farmer MarketPlace Extra

If you remember back to this time a year-ago, we were anxiously watching the commodity markets trend lower, wishing each week that we’d sold more grain. With lower grain prices throughout 2024, we eventually saw the farmland market soften for the first time in several years. Farmland buyers became more cautious as profitability was challenged, and most attempted to protect working capital.

Here in early 2025, however, there seems to be a renewed sense of optimism that has started to filter through the countryside. The optimism is not overwhelming, but some positive energy has shown up in recent land sale results. I attribute the turn to an optimistic tone to the fact that the grain markets have rallied significantly from late fall lows to reach a point that is above breakeven for most farming operations, assuming average yields in 2025.

What could temper this optimism? For one, a difficult start to the spring planting season, and secondly, a possible slide in the grain markets related to retaliation for President Trump’s early February tariff moves. Time will tell us more about both issues. But as I review recent sales from across the state, the land market in early 2025 does seem to have firmed.

NORTHWEST

Clay County:

Located southeast of Spencer, 76 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $14,400 per acre. The farm consisted of 74 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 (Corn Suitability Rating index) of 89.4, and equaled $165 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL

Franklin County:

Located north of Chapin, 92 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $14,900 per acre. The farm consisted of 89 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 92.1, and equaled $167 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm was very irregularly shaped.

NORTHEAST

Buchanan County:

Located southwest of Aurora, 155 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $12,700 per acre. The farm consisted of 145 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 88.4, and equaled $154 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: The 10 non-tillable acres were multiple grass waterways.

WEST CENTRAL

Woodbury County:

Located south of Sergeant Bluff, 81 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $14,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 81 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 77.6, and equaled $180 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL

Hamilton County:

Located northeast of Stanhope, 120 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $11,600 per acre. The farm consisted of 117 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 71.6, and equaled $166 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

EAST CENTRAL

Jackson County:

Located southwest of Bellevue, 60 +/- acres recently sold for $10,500 per acre. The farm consisted of 49 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 56.9, and equaled $226 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: The non-tillable acres were grassland and waterways.

SOUTHWEST

Page County:

Located east of Essex, 39 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $11,700 per acre. The farm consisted of 37 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 81.7, and equaled $151 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Wayne County:

Located west of Humeston, 152 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $7,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 143 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 55.1, and equaled $137 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: The non-tillable acres were grassland and a pond.

SOUTHEAST

Washington County:

Located southeast of Washington, 36 +/- acres recently sold at public auction for $15,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 36 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 78.2, and equaled $192 per CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

Hensley is president of Hertz Real Estate Services, which compiled this list, but did not handle all sales. Call Hertz at 800-593-5263 or visit hertz.ag.

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