At Farmers National Company, we often are asked, “When is the best time of year to sell farmland?” The basic answer is anytime can be a good time to sell, but generally, the most active time of year for selling farmland falls between October and January.

That’s because the new buyer can take over the land for the following growing season and farmers harvesting their crop can have a firm understanding of their financial positions as the year-end approaches, based on crop yields and prices.

As we enter the summer months, now is the time to contact your local Farmers National Company real estate expert if you are thinking of selling your farm. The process of setting up a sale does not happen overnight. Your FNC expert will review your farm operation, which includes making a personal visit, confirming market conditions in the immediate area of your farm, and preparing a multi-faceted marketing plan specifically for your farm. A planned, thorough approach will lead to a well-prepared sales process, which will maximize the value of your sale.

Most of our farmland buyers are farmer-operators. However, one potential buyer that has emerged in the past several years is the 1031 tax-deferred exchange buyer. This is a section of the tax code that allows one property to be sold and a replacement purchased without capital gains taxes if certain parameters are followed. Due to larger population bases in many states in our coverage area and the continued growth of many large urban cities, the sale of land for development often can reach 5 to 10 times the value of farmland if the land is located in strategic areas.

In many eastern areas, this factor, combined with a 25 to 30% reduction in available land, has held prices extraordinarily strong for highly tillable quality farmland despite much lower grain prices the last couple of years. We have seen some small reductions in sale value for lower quality land, as well as farms with higher percentages of non-tillable land. But overall, the amounts are generally small compared to grain price reductions.

Still, there’s no better time than the present to take advantage of historically high land values if your circumstances allow you to put your land on the market. For more information about how Farmers National Company can help you sell your land, visit www.fncrealestate.com today.