Farmland Sale: Southwest Iowa Farm Reaches $12,600 per Acre

For two generations, the Klocke family farmed near Viola, in Audubon County, in the southwest corner of Iowa. Lawrence Klocke, the second generation to farm the land, died in February. His heirs chose to sell two tracts of land at auction September 22.

It was a good day for a sale.

Tract 1, 77 acres north of Viola Center, is a rolling patch featuring mostly Exira silty clay loam soils with a Corn Suitability Rating II of 78.6, well above the county average of 67.1. It sold for $962,500 ($12,500 per acre).

Tract 2, 141.64 acres a few miles northwest of Tract 1, is all cropland, with a CSR II of 72.6. Soil types are mostly Exira silty clay loam and Judson-Colo-Ackmore. The property rolled a bit. It sold for $1.78 million ($12,600 per acre).

Auctioneer Gary Rupiper said the auction was competitive, with a large crowd on hand with plenty of people in the bidding action.

“This was about as active a sale as I’ve had in 50 years as an auctioneer,” Rupiper says.

The average CSR2 score for Emmet County is 70. The 10-year average corn yield is 177 bushels per acre; for soybeans, it’s 53 bushels per acre.

Tract Acres Total Per Acre 1 77 $962,500 $12,500 2 141.64 $1.78 million $12,600

BEST OF THE REST

Minnesota, Wright County: An 87-acre tract southwest of Cokato (south-central Minnesota) sold September 27. The farm is mostly Class II soils, with mostly Reedslake-Le Seur and Cokato-Storden soils. It is tiled and though rolling on the west side, is an above-average quality farm, according to Ashley Huhn, with Steffes Group, which had the sale. The farm sold for $403,00 ($4,632 per acre), which includes a 5% buyer’s premium.

Nebraska, Stanton County: 160 acres southeast of Pilger (northeast Nebraska) sold at auction September 26. The farm has 155.62 cropland acres and the balance in waste. It is a dryland farm featuring some Class I and II soils, but is mostly Class III Nora-Crofton and Moody silty clay loam soils. Buyer gets full possession for 2019. It sold for $1.096 million ($6,850 per acre). Farmers National Company had the sale.