A farm real estate specialist says the downturn in the ag economy has had a mixed impact on ag land sales in Iowa.
Jim Rothermich with Iowa Appraisal says high-quality farmland is still selling strong.
“I have seen some really strong sales coming at auction and it’s usually the high-quality ground bringing top dollar just as good as it was several years ago.”
But he tells Brownfield the market for low-quality ag land is weak.
“Low-quality ground is being discounted right now. I keep track of all land auctions in Iowa, and there were 10 no-sales in the month of November here in Iowa. That’s a high number.”
Rothermich says low commodity prices and high input costs are the biggest factors for the low-quality land market.
