Land Values Blogs

Farmland owners face several challenges to ownership related to utility companies, pipeline companies, highways, and others who need to acquire property for a potential new corridor through their land. There are increasing demands for power and energy sources which is leading to increased demands from agencies needing to acquire land. It is important for landowners and companies that need to acquire a corridor to understand the process of completing appraisals for eminent domain purposes.

As inflation rates continue to rise in the United States, investors have renewed interest in alternative investment opportunities that can outperform traditional asset classes without sacrificing stability. In 2021, The Land Report named Bill Gates as the top private farmland owner in America, since then investors of all sizes and backgrounds have flocked to the agricultural sector.

The appraisal team at Peoples Company was able to track 37 tracts or 3,711 acres sold at public auction in Iowa during May 2024. The average dollar per acre was $11,238, the average dollar per tillable acre was $12,604, and the average dollar per CSR2 was $165.

For the May webinar in the Landowner Insights series, Peoples Company's Dr. Dave Muth characterizes the net zero economy impact on farmland returns.

The appraisal team at Peoples Company was able to track 50 tracts or 3,514.48 acres sold at public auction in Iowa during April 2024. The average dollar per acre was $10,852, the average dollar per tillable acre was $13,624, and the average dollar per CSR2 was $181.

At Peoples Company, the question that is heard daily up and down the halls is a simple yet pivotal one: “What is happening in the land market?” In recent years, the answer has been straightforward - an upward trajectory.

In the April edition of the Landowner Insights series, Dr. David Muth presented on market trends, economic drivers, and environmental policy impacting the farmland asset class as well as management strategies to regulate risk and optimize return.

Peoples Company tracks agricultural auctions across the state of Iowa. From this data, we calculate the average dollar per CSR2 point ($/CSR2) for sales of tracts with greater than 85% tillable land. Additionally, these tracts are largely unimproved or include minimal improvement contribution.

In 2021 the U.S. rejoined The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, and published “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States, Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050 [1]. Net zero refers to a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that is produced and the amount of GHG removed from the atmosphere. Agriculture accounts for approximately 10% of total GHG emissions in the U.S. [2].

The appraisal team at Peoples Company was able to track 82 tracts or 6,803.16 acres sold at public auction in Iowa during March 2024. The average dollar per acre was $11,316, the average dollar per tillable acre was $13,574, and the average dollar per CSR2 was $174.