Iowa Land Auction Prices, February 24-March 2, 2017

Posted on March 6, 2017 at 1:00 PM by Jim Rothermich

Greetings! Fewer acres of land were offered at auction this week compared to last week’s results. 1,707 acres were auctioned, of which 1,434 were tillable. All farms were sold and there were no “no sales.” I would describe the land market as very good. Here are the highlights:

466 acres sold in Monona County (Missouri River Bottom)- offered in six tracts:
- 43 acres- $6,850/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 78.0
- 69 acres- $5,000/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 58.0
- 113 acres- $6,500/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 58.0
- 62 acres- $5,000/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 80.0
- 115 acres- $4,000/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 66.0
- 65 acres- $7,100/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 84.0
78 acres sold in Shelby County- $6,500/acre- 58 tillable acres- CSR2- 67.0
60 acres sold in Madison County- $5,050/acre (House-Pasture included)
220 acres sold in Montgomery County- $6,250/acre- 199 tillable acres- CSR2- 75.0
65 acres sold in Van Buren County- $2,975/acre- 30 tillable acres- CSR2- 47.0
154 acres sold in Monona County (Missouri River Bottom)- $5,700/acre- 137 tillable acres- CSR2- 61.0
108 acres sold in Jefferson County- $8,950/acre- 106 tillable acres- CSR2- 78.0
263 acres sold in Keokuk County- offered in two tracts:
- 146 acres- $6,650/acre- 111 tillable acres- CSR2- 73.0
- 117 acres- $6,800/acre- 104 tillable acres- CSR2- 59.0
154 acres sold in Jackson County- $8,800/acre- 96 tillable acres- CSR2- 69.0 (Includes improvements)
137 acres sold in Lyon County- offered in two tracts:
- 68 acres-$12,600/acre- 66 tillable acres- CSR2- 73.0
- 70 acres- $12,900/acre- 66 tillable acres- CSR2- 73.0
1,689 acres offered for cash rent- Monona County (Missouri River Bottom) online auction- three year lease- offered in 4 tracts:
- 322.8 acres- Rent- $320/acre- CSR2- 58.0
- 480.7 acres- Rent- $310/acre- CSR2- 59.0
- 313.8 acres- Rent- $325/acre- CSR2- 58.0
- 572.1 acres- Rent- $305/acre- CSR2- 57.0

I included a recent online cash rental auction in Monona County. I think this deserves some discussion. Typically cash rent negotiations are between the landlord/farm manager and a specific tenant is never fully exposed to the market. I have always wondered if cash rent was to be negotiated by the public like in a land auction, would the cash rent be higher? On Friday (March 3rd), 1,689 acres were fully exposed to the market via online auction. The cash rent that was freely negotiated was considerably higher than what the landlord was going to receive from his tenant for the 2017 crop year. Typical cash rent in this river bottom with similar productivity is $250/acre +/-. Bidding was very aggressive and there was no shortage of farmers who wanted in on the action. I think this is the only true way to determine fair market rent.

“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!” Please check back next week to see what the Iowa land market is doing.