How Does Weather Affect A Farmland Auction?

Sep 20, 2019

Jason J Smith

Jason J Smith

Auctioneer & Land Broker

Jason is an experienced farmland broker and auctioneer with extensive experience in farmland sales across this Midwest.  Jason has worked with hundreds of clients to create advantageous outcomes.  If you are selling land schedule a consultation with Jason by calling or using the calendar.

Phone: 515-537-6633

Weather And Your Auction

As we head into the later months of the year, we’ll switch from air conditioning bills to heating bills as the cooler months settle in. The struggle of carrying an umbrella, adding an extra layer, or throwing in a jacket “just in case” is quickly becoming a reality.

But will the threat of inclement weather affect my auction?

The answer is no! For example, the best auction I have ever conducted was during a downpour in 2012. It was a year of drought and farmers were desperate for rain. Lucky for us, we sold a farm by live auction on what seemed like the first day of rain in a full year. I’ve literally never seen people in such a good mood. But, if we were hosting an online auction, how much can weather truly affect it?

Benefiting From An Online Auction

Picture this: a week of non-stop rain or snow. Many will have spent this time indoors, resting, watching TV, playing with their children or grandchildren, or even catching up on house chores. By now, they might be going a little stir crazy! What better way to fill that need for something “farm” related than an online auction!

If we had a live auction during a blizzard, we would cancel it and reschedule. I simply will not risk putting our team on the road in that type of inclement weather. But, what if we instead conducted an online auction? There would be no doubt that it would continue as planned! Nobody would drive, our team would operate and communicate remotely, and all the bidders could log on and bid from home. Regardless of our differing locations, the online auction will continue.

We can’t control Mother Nature. But, as an auction service provider, our goal is to deliver products and services that represent our clients’ best interests. We’ll advise anyone of concerns they should be aware of; however, I honestly believe worrying about the weather isn’t one of them. Heck, we may even hope for a storm on auction day!

So, What If The Technology Fails?

We recognize that technology has a tendency to fail at some of the worst times. However, we have (thankfully) never experienced a catastrophic technology failure during an auction. We have experienced glitches from time to time, but we have also used our peers’ unfortunate events to build an online auction system that is safe and reliable. From our website, to our bidding platform BidCapture, to our information system, we’ve created redundancy and mirror sites that seamlessly take over if one technology fails. There is a 0% chance our system can fail during an online auction.

In early 2019, we opened our Auction Technology Center in Mason City, Iowa. This facility is responsible for housing our online auction operations infrastructure and staff. We have outfitted this building with the latest in technology and digital security. At the same time, our websites and web infrastructure are housed on cloud servers in multiple locations. Thus, our Mason City facility only really houses “the ability” to use the system.

More specifically, if the facility were to catch fire, nothing could happen to the websites and bidding platform. This is due to the fact that they are housed in multiple places off-site. If a person was bidding on a farm, and the server they were bidding on was struck by a failure of any kind, the bidding is immediately handed off to a different server. Nobody (except us) would be aware that it had happened. We want our clients to feel confident in our systems and our ability to produce the best results for each auction.

Online Auctions Are Fail-Proof!

So, if you’re looking to sell your farmland, don’t fret about inclement weather any longer! We want to help you achieve the full market value of your farm- no matter the circumstances. Talk to us today! We’ll get your crucial questions answered and get you started on the right foot to a successful sale!

Request a Free Valuation for Your Farm or Land Property

Whether you’re ready to start the selling process, or even remotely curious, we will gladly provide you with a FREE Market Analysis! If you are in a position to sell land in the Midwest, we want to help you achieve the top of the market on your sale.

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