February 14, 2022

  

Increasing land prices coupled with more farms being sold created new peaks in real estate sales in Iowa during 2021 for Farmers National Company. The amount of land sold by the company in the state was up 152% over the previous year with auction sales up 129%. Iowa was the focus in the land market last year with the monumental jump in sales prices for good cropland and in the number of farms sold across the state. 

Farmers National Company agents and auction teams were busy the whole last half of the year and especially so the last three months. The company auctioned five times more land the last part of 2021 than in the last quarter of 2020. 

Higher grain prices, past government payments, better yields than first thought, and stronger farm incomes prompted increased demand for good cropland in Iowa last year. The stronger financial condition of farmers prompted their renewed interest in buying land.    

Increasing land prices and the once assumed potential for changes in tax laws affecting real estate sales brought more landowners to sell their farmland. Sellers remained the normal estates, trusts, and nonfarming families.     

The various ways Farmers National Company sells farms was uniquely suited to the competitive bidding experienced in Iowa last year. The company's ability to do simulcast auctions broadcasting live and online bidding at the same time brought the best sales prices for sellers. 

Brian Mohr and Tom Schutter, real estate sales managers for Iowa, believe the land market will be active in 2022. Land sales normally slow down somewhat during late winter leading up to spring planting. But Farmers National Company's pipeline of listings and auctions in Iowa for the next few months is busy.

Randy Dickhut  

Senior Vice President - Real Estate Operations 

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