Bang for your buck!
MARCH 2023 IOWA FARMLAND VALUE | IOWA LAND GUY
Bang For Your Buck! While David was at the National Land Conference held by the Realtors Land Institute, I was home closing land transactions, shuttling kids, and calving cows. Not complaining….this is what I love to do! That being said: closing land transactions and seeing the large investment for these farmers, I begin to look at what farmers can do to make the land work for them so they can get more “bang for their buck”. I, being the cattle person, go straight to cover crops and/or double cropping. What a great way to not only have the land work for you, but also build organic matter and improve soil fertility. It also helps prevent erosion from water as well as the wind. There are other ways however to reap the benefits of your farmland with long term and/or short term improvements. Some improvements would be adding drain tile, land leveling or grading to divert water flow to fit the type of crop you are producing, implementing an irrigation system, and tree removal to gain more tillable land. With drain tile you can see a potential yield increase of 15-25% with properly installed tile systems. Land leveling in areas where water runoff was an issue can increase your yields by 10.7-12.9% by managing the flow of the water. The irrigation system method has gotten my attention more and more in recent years as we live on extremely sandy soil where my pasture burns out by the first part of July (unless we have a really wet summer). With well planned and managed irrigation systems it is not a surprise that crops, pasture, and hay yields improve. The most interesting statistic that I found is that corn is the crop that benefits the most from irrigation, with a mind-blowing 170% potential gain in yields. Wow! Tree removal however has been one that we see quite a bit in Iowa. A tough subject for some, it does however help to get you more farmable acres which adds to the profit line at the end of the year and for future years to come! Some have been implementing these practices and improvements for years now, but for others I hope this gets your wheels spinning to find more ways to make the land work for you resulting in a more profitable farming career.
Iowa Results: Results from the 142 Auctions (14,098 acres) this last year have the average for the state at $11,680/acre, high quality ground at $14,010/ acre, and medium quality ground averaging $9,195/ acre. Low quality ground has remained steady at an average of $6,003/ acre Our Mission; Is to be your “Trusted Advisors”, Our obligation; is to market your farmland to the largest audience yielding you the most successful outcome!
David & Ann Whitaker | Iowa Land Guy When you think of Farmland Think of US!
Iowa Land Values by CSR Score: Green= 75-100CSR Tan=50-75CSR Orange= less than 50CSR
Farmland in Iowa by Acres Sold
Farmland Values in Iowa across the state
