April 11, 2022  

The increased sale and auction activity in the land market that we saw during the last quarter of 2021 continued throughout the first quarter of 2022. Not only was there more land sold in the past six months than the previous four years, prices also continued on the strong upward trend the whole time. If a seller wanted to get the best sale price for their land in this quickly up trending period, some type of competitive bidding or auction was the best way to find out what the market was willing to pay at any given time. 

The number of auction type land sales increased during the past six months compared to recent years. For Farmers National Company, the number of auctions held increased 65% over last year. The number of acres sold via auctions was up 106% and the dollar value of auction sales was up 130% during the time frame. The number of auction sales for the past six months was almost equivalent to what the company experienced for a whole year during the slower land sales times of the past four years.  

Not only were the number of land auctions up the past six months, but sales prices increased dramatically into spring planting time. A recent auction held by Farmers National Company of prime farmland in central Illinois brought $21,500 per acre for 80 acres. Other states and regions also experienced much stronger prices even from just the first of the year.  

The busy period of land sales during the fall and winter months has come to a close, but auctions are still being held through April and early summer, albeit at a much slower pace which is the normal pattern. Time will tell if the higher prices will prompt more landowners, mainly estates, trusts, recent inheritors, and some family groups, to sell in the coming months. Time will also determine if the factors supporting land prices will continue for the foreseeable future. 

Randy Dickhut  

Senior Vice President - Real Estate Operations 

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