Aggressive Buying, Higher Prices for Hoosier Farmland
(photo courtesy: USDA/Preston Keres)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOne of the nation’s leading farmland real estate companies says auction bids on agricultural land are reaching levels not seen since 2014, including higher-quality land in Indiana.
Farmers National Company, which is based in Nebraska but has offices in Indiana, says interest in purchasing agricultural land has grown since a pandemic-induced slowdown blanketed the market last spring.
The company says buyers are actively pushing land prices in the eastern Corn Belt as sales prices in some areas are nearing the 2014 peak in values.
“We are seeing land prices up 9 to 11 percent for the good cropland in the area,” said Linda Brier, area sales manager for Farmers National Company.
The land auction company says the average price of good quality Indiana farmland is $9,800 per acre, up from $8,750 from June 2020 and $9,000 in June 2019.
“At Farmers National Company auctions, we have seen sales well over $13,000 per acre for good cropland. Price levels vary by state, but good cropland is strong everywhere,” said Brier. “Prices have definitely increased since fall and even more so since the first of the year.”
The company says farmers are feeling more financially secure as very strong commodity prices arrived on top of large government payments in 2020.
Corn prices, America’s biggest cash crop, have risen about 50% in 2021.
“The prospect for $7 corn drives the demand for good cropland in the Corn Belt. It is making farmers even more bullish to buy farmland,” Brier said.
National Farmers says the current agricultural land market has more buyers than sellers and that limited supply is helping to push prices higher.
“Buyers are being more aggressive bidding on traditional private treaty listings,” said Brier. “Interest in solar development in some areas is also spurring demand for land.”