BrownfieldAgNews reports:
Clive, IA — A farm real estate appraiser says farmland sales have been strong in Iowa despite challenging economic conditions.
Jim Rothermich, vice president of Iowa Appraisal, says sale prices have been exceptionally high this month.
“Just last week there was one farm in Mitchell County, which is north-central Iowa along the Minnesota border, that was 80 acres and sold for $24,400 an acre,” he said. “Another sale last week, 140 acres in Dallas County in central Iowa, sold for $20,100 an acre.”
Rothermich says other notable sales through September 15th included 60 acres in Cedar County selling for $19,000 per acre, and two tracts in Plymouth County selling for $18,000 per acre.
He tells Brownfield the market is holding up well, which has been a surprise.
“The reason (I’m surprised) is corn prices have essentially been cut in half since the peak there in 2022.”
Rothermich says the recent purchases have been made by local farmers.
“84% of the farm ground in Iowa is owned debt-free,” he said. “There’s a lot of strong balance sheets out here in rural Iowa that have the equity to buy land.”
Rothermich says 13,000 acres of land has already come to the market in September.
