November 2021 Wallace’s Farmer “MarketPlace Extra”

Doug Hensley, Hertz Real Estate Services

Fall harvest 2021 came on fast in early September and has progressed at a similar pace. I expect harvest operations will be nearly complete by Halloween. Yield results have been more positive than negative, although there is typical variability from area to area.

Farmland sales have been on a breakneck pace, as dozens of early fall public auctions have already occurred in September and October, with impressive price results. The Iowa Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute released their fall 2021 farmland value survey in the past month, and the survey of brokers and auctioneers reflected Iowa farmland values 18.8% higher since the March 2021 survey. When coupled with the 7.8% statewide increase that this same group reported back in March, it is clear that Iowa land values are at least 25% higher on a year-over-year basis (e.g., September 2020 to September 2021).

Strong 2021 on-farm profits, still elevated grain prices for 2022 forward production, and attractively low interest rates, all continue to support land values at these higher levels. There has been a very large volume of new farmland sales that have come to the market over the past 90 days. Early this summer, there were fewer sales, and each sale seemed to explode a little higher than the last. So, because of the larger sale volume this fall, this major push higher in values (from one sale to the next) seems to have started to temper, at least a bit. This is the typical supply-demand readjustment that occurs in a properly functioning market (e.g., as more farms have come to the market, the heavy demand to purchase is being satisfied).

As we look forward towards 2022, higher crop input prices remain a concern, as profit margins will likely tighten from 2021 levels. However, as the sales below indicate, land buyers are maintaining their positive forward outlook.

NORTHWEST

Pocahontas County:

210 +/- acres, located southwest of Havelock, recently sold at an online public auction for $13,800 per acre. The farm consisted of 199 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 85.7, and equaled $170/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTH CENTRAL

Floyd County:

60 +/- acres, located near Colwell, recently sold at public auction for $11,000 per acre. The farm consisted of 57 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 80.4, and equaled $144/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

NORTHEAST

Black Hawk County:

174 +/- acres, located northeast of Waterloo, recently sold at an online public auction for $11,700 per acre. The farm consisted of 165 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 89.7, and equaled $138/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm included several waterways, terraces, and had a corner cut by a creek.

WEST CENTRAL

Audubon County:

152 +/- acres, located west of Audubon, recently sold at public auction for $12,600 per acre. The farm consisted of 151 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 73.1, and equaled $173/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

CENTRAL

Hardin County:

120 +/- acres, located south of Radcliffe, recently sold at public auction for $12,200 per acre. The farm consisted of 116 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 85.0, and equaled $148/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

EAST CENTRAL

Iowa County:

77 +/- acres, located northwest of Williamsburg, recently sold at public auction for $9,900 per acre. The farm consisted of 73 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 59.9, and equaled $174/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHWEST

Pottawattamie County:

303 +/- acres, located southwest of Missouri Valley, recently sold at public auction for $5,100 per acre. The farm consisted of 289 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 44.3, and equaled $120/CSR2 point on the tillable acres. Note: This farm is mostly levy protected, and included 3 center pivots watering approximately 240 acres, served by 2 pivot engines and 2 wells and pumps.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Union County:                                                                                                            

283 +/- acres, located northwest of Creston, recently sold at public auction for $8,300 per acre. The farm consisted of 248 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 71.7, and equaled $132/CSR2 point on the tillable acres.

SOUTHEAST

Washington County:

80 +/- acres, located west of Washington, recently sold at public auction for $16,800 per acre. The farm consisted of 79 +/- tillable acres with a CSR2 of 84.7, and equaled $200/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.