Iowa Land Auction Prices, March 17-23, 2017

Posted on March 27, 2017 at 11:15 AM by Jim Rothermich

Greetings! Fewer acres of land were offered at auction this week compared to last week’s results. 1,153 acres were auctioned, of which 1,080 were tillable. There was one true “no sale.” I would describe the land market as very stable to stronger. Here are the highlights:

40 acres sold in Sac County- $4,650/acre- 31 tillable acres- CSR2- 82.0 (Boyer River Bottom)
223 acres sold in Grundy County- offered in three tracts:
- 76 acres- $9,794/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 89.0
- 39 acres- $5,791/acre- 38 tillable acres- CSR2- 66.0 (Hammer Creek Bottom).
- 108 acres- $7,009/acre- 107 tillable acres- CSR2- 76.0 (partial Hammer Creek Bottom).
75 acres “no sale’ Union County- 47 tillable acres- CSR2- 60.0
80 acres sold in Story County- 10,800/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 85.0 (sale price does not include $3,239 for fall fertilizer application).
240 acres sold in Poweshiek County- $7,600/are- 229 tillable acres- CSR2- 75.0 (farm had a lease in place for $236/acre).
97 acres sold in Louisa County- $8,800/acre- 93 tillable acres- CSR2- 89.0
40 acres sold in Jefferson County- $6,100/acre- 33 tillable acres- CSR2- 67.0
80 acres sold in Chickasaw County- $12,300/acre- 75 tillable acres- CSR2- 87.0
157 acres sold in Fremont County- $6,900/acre- 154 tillable acres- CR2- 81.0
121 acres sold in Sioux County- $15,000/acre- 117 tillable acres- CSR2- 96.5 (sale price does not include $10,119 fall fertilizer application).

The market is doing very well. There was another true “no sale” this week. We have had several “no sales” the past couple of weeks but I do not think it is an indication of a declining market. USDA’s prospective planting report will come out on March 31. Preliminary estimates have corn at 90 million acres and soybeans at 87-89 million acres. I will include the press release in next week’s blog. Stay tuned! I want to point out the drought in the southeast part of the country. Iowa’s droughts typically start in the southeast and work west. Grain traders may get nervous about this growing drought and could potentially increase corn and soybean prices. If this happens, it will show up instantaneously in Iowa land prices. Please check out my blog about the Iowa Chapter of REALTORS Land Institute‘s recent press release on “Land Trends & Values.”

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