By Jared Augustine

Stable and steady has continued to be the name of the game in the past month of farmland sales. Most sales that we have conducted and followed have maintained reasonably stable sales prices. The biggest surprise is that “B”-quality farms still are bringing a good value ($9,000-$10,000 per acre) despite seeing a drop in buyer demand.

One tool that we have been using with success as of late is a one-chance sealed-bid sale. An OCSB sale works well for farms that have several negative characteristics that lower the value of the property. In the more reserved market that we are in, auctions still can perform very well for “A”-quality farms, but they still require two strong bidders to bring a good price.

An OCSB sale asks potential buyers to make their one-time-only, best and highest offer. This method helps to draw out the highest value of a farm and only needs one willing bidder to bring a strong price. Although some buyers are not in love with this sale method, we find that interested parties who really want to own that farm end up stepping up with a firm bid.

Even with more farms being sold toward the end of the year, the overall number of sales is less than previous years. One attorney I spoke with echoed that sentiment, having very few public or private sales come through their office in the past year. While some may see this as negative, this lowered supply has helped maintain a stable land market thus far.

Related:Stable but cautious land market shows in high farm sales

One small noticeable change in the past month comes from a farmer survey put out by the Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture. Purdue publishes monthly Ag Economy Barometer survey questions to farmers to gauge the mood of our largest group of farmland buyers. The Ag Economy Barometer current conditions and future expectations index had been in a downhill pattern but rose significantly immediately after the U.S. election.

From the survey, “The reasons behind the improvement in farmer sentiment include expectations for a future regulatory and tax environment for the agricultural sector that is more favorable than expected prior to the November elections.”

Whether economic conditions for farmers improve is yet to be seen, but changes in mood and feelings do have a significant impact on how much people are willing to pay for a piece of land on a given day. So far, we continue to see stability in the marketplace. Here are just a few sales around the countryside:

Waseca County. West of New Richland, about 80 acres sold for $12,000 per acre. The farm consists of 78.99 tillable acres with a Crop Productivity Index of 93.2.

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Redwood County. North of Belview, about 165.7 acres sold for $11,160 per acre. The farm consists of 160 tillable acres with a CPI of 93.3.

Nobles County. North of Brewster, about 80 acres sold for $13,250 per acre. The farm consists of 79.38 tillable acres with a CPI of 94.1.

Mower County. Southwest of Adams, about 75 acres sold for $13,700 per acre. The farm consists of 72.08 tillable acres with a CPI of 78.4.

Clay County. South of Moorhead, about 80 acres sold for $8,000 per acre. The farm consists of 71.63 tillable acres with a CPI of 92.1.

North of Moorhead, about 160 acres sold for $8,400 per acre. The farm consists of 153.49 tillable acres with a CPI of 89.6.

Marshall County. East of Oslo, about 92 acres sold for $6,000 per acre. The farm consists of 86.96 tillable acres with a CPI of 90.2.

Stevens County. Southwest of Morris, about 160 acres sold for $8,080 per acre. The farm consists of 145 tillable acres with a CPI of 77.7.

Wright County. North of Cokato, about 41 acres sold for $12,500 per acre. The farm consists of 37.89 tillable acres with a CPI of 91.4.

Augustine is a Minnesota-licensed real estate salesperson for Hertz Farm Management Inc. He lives near Minnesota Lake with his wife and four children and works out of Hertz’s Mankato office. Hertz Farm Management compiled the list but did not handle all sales. Call Hertz in Mankato at 507-345-5263 or 800-730-5263, or visit www.hertz.ag.

Related:Expect quality farmland to continue to bring a good price