Iowa Farmland Prices September 2017 Survey Results

Current farmland prices in Iowa for 2017.  The Iowa Realtors Land Institute has released a new report on Iowa farmland prices for the period of March 2017 to September 2017.  This survey measures the value of cropland, non tillable pasturelands and timber in Iowa.  The survey is compiled by surveying land brokers, auctioneers and lenders about prices in their area.  The survey allows respondents reply with average land prices in 9 predetermined areas or crop reporting districts in the state of Iowa.

The results for the March 2017 to September 2017 survey showed that farmland values increased 2% statewide but that doesn’t mean every area of the state saw an increases.  In fact west central Iowa saw a 2% decrease and Southwest farmland prices fell 3% during the time period.  While the report can be helpful in a geographic region and show us the current trend it tends to be more of an economic indicator than it does speak to the value of any one particular farm.  It is important to remember that the report is averages of many sales.

Iowa Farmland Market Conditions

The farmland market is driven by many changing factors that affect the supply and demand for farmland.  Today’s farmland prices are driven largely by a lack of farmland available for purchase and good quality farmland is selling for a premium today because of this lack of supply.  Low commodity prices have been responsible for holding the lower end of the medium quality and low quality farms down over the recent few years.  While there is no exact measure it seems to be our experience with exceptions that maybe around that 49 CSR2 and below you see demand waning significantly and buyer interest not near that of the better quality farms.  That said, it is still there but pinpointing the right buyers for those farms is really important in the marketing process.  Hunting land and hunting farms seem to have increasing demand in their price point especially in south central and southeast Iowa and as the trend toward land ownership for hunters continues to matures.  A fair portion of that demand for hunting farms comes from out of state investors but as Iowa residents work to secure permanent hunting rights its become more common for those people to participate in the competition for farmland.

A discussion about Iowa farmland prices in 2017 would not be complete without some discussion of the volatility that exists in the market today.  We see examples from time to time of similar quality farms in locations fairly close to each that can have vastly different results and because farmers are more cash strapped than they have been in recent years certain neighborhoods can become oversold fairly quickly when supply increases.

Did you know you can keep up to date on Iowa Farmland Prices at www.DollarsAndDirt.com where we post sale reports from across the State of Iowa?  There is no easier to use and more FREE website on current Iowa land values and sales.