Iowa Land Auction Prices, October 6-12, 2017

Posted on October 16, 2017 at 10:33 AM by Jim Rothermich

Greetings! Fewer acres of land were auctioned this week as compared to last. 403 acres of land were offered, of which 280 acres were tillable. There was one “no sale” on a recreational tract but it was very close to the reserve price. I expect this tract will get sold. The land market continues to be very strong. Here are the highlights:

64 acres sold in Johnson County- $8,050/acre- 57 tillable acres- CSR2- 61
64 acres “no sale” in Dallas County- recreational tract- (south Raccoon River Bottom)
35 acres sold in Woodbury County- $7,300/acre- 31 tillable acres- CSR2- 54
65 acres sold in O’Brien County- $10,450/acre- all tillable- CSR2- 97
80 acres “cancelled” in Franklin County- 75 tillable acres- CSR2- 86
25 acres sold in Clay County- $7,800/acre- 5 tillable acres- recreational tract
70 acres sold in Henry County- $4,100/acre- 47 tillable acres- CSR2- 59

USDA continues to increase its projection for the 2018 corn crop adding 1.9 bushels to the average yield from the September forecast. The October Crop Production Report average of 171.8 bushels per acre is expected to yield a total crop of 14.3 billion bushels, up one percent from the September report. The corn crop increase was largely offset on the demand side. The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), also released today, increases projected feed and residual use by 25 million bushels, putting the net increase in ending stocks at 5 million bushels over last month. Corn trade was up in the three cent range following the news.

USDA trimmed soybean estimates, taking .04 bushels from last month and pegging the crop at an average of 49.5 bushels per acre and total production at 4.43 billion bushels. The total crop is three percent above a year ago and would be a record soybean crop. USDA also boosted soybean acreage by one percent over the September report. WASDE projects soybean ending stocks at 430 million bushels, which would be the highest stocks to use ration since 2006/2007. Beans were trading up sharply on the news.

WASDE pricing estimates for corn and soy were unchanged. The outlook for corn remains at $2.80-$3.60 per bushel. Soybean prices are projected to remain in the $8.35-$10.05 range. (Source: Ag Web, powered by Farm Journal)

Both corn & soybean prices are up after the USDA crop report. It appears we have already seen harvest low prices. That is a good thing for Iowa land prices.

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