By Jared Augustine

This past November continued the trend as being one of the busiest months for farm sales. With the 2024 harvest completed and an open lease for 2025, late fall and farm sales go together like peanut butter and jelly; it just makes sense.

Farm sales in November have stayed on track with a stable but cautious land market. Traditional strong regions continue to do well, while other areas are showing signs of softer prices. When I speak of softer prices, we still are seeing “B” quality farms selling at $9,000 to $10,000-plus per acre in many areas, while “A” quality farms are going for $11,000 to $13,000-plus per acre.

At this point, it is difficult to predict whether a certain farm will exceed or fall short of expectations on a given day. Several other land brokers I have spoken to in the state have echoed that sentiment, saying that one farm will do much better than they thought while another will fall $1,000 per acre short of what they were expecting. So far, when local farmers have declined to push a sale for one reason or another, investors have been stepping in with bids that have kept sales prices up to a salable level.

Overall, the volume of land sales has been down in 2024, which has helped stabilize prices in the lower commodity world that we are in.

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Joe Mahon, director of regional outreach for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, recently released his 2024 third-quarter ag market conditions survey. The survey polls agricultural lenders and market players throughout the 9th District and reported on market conditions from July through September.

Mahon reports that the agricultural economy still was stable despite falling farm incomes. In reaction to falling farm income and expected lower income in the near future, loan officers reported seeing lower capital spending and flattened household spending and, of course, loan demand had risen.

Despite these findings, and a negative outlook for the fourth quarter, reported cash rent was up 2% in Minnesota year over year, while land sales were reported to be down 2%. In our office, farm managers report that cash rents are either unchanged or down 5% from a year ago. On the sales side, it can be difficult to calculate an exact figure, but we believe that we have seen a 5% decline in prices on quality farms, and 5% to 10% down on less desirable pieces.

I expect to see the market stay in a mostly flat to slightly lowered state until something triggers another run on commodities. One last note: Mahon says that although farm liquidity is down, cattle prices have been strong, and lower feed costs have helped increase profit margins. Areas with more beef production or individuals with cattle may be better positioned at the moment to expand their territory if the right opportunity arises.

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For now, here are a few recent sales of note:

Yellow Medicine County. West of Wood Lake, about 50.87 acres sold for $9,050 per acre. The farm consists of 47.91 tillable acres with a Crop Productivity Index of 91.6. East of Wood Lake, about 160 acres sold for $11,900 per acre. The farm consists of 155.87 tillable acres with a CPI of 92.5.

Big Stone County. North of Beardsley, about 95 acres sold for $5,950 per acre. The farm consists of 80 tillable acres with a CPI of 90.1.

Rice County. West of Lonsdale, about 31.3 acres sold for $7,975 per acre. The farm consists of 19.6 tillable acres with a CPI of 82.3.

Murray County. West of Hadley, about 120.06 acres sold for $9,000 per acre. The farm consists of 113.81 tillable acres with a CPI of 85.7.

Norman County. Southwest of Ada, about 152.67 acres sold for $7,500 per acre. The farm consists of 149.25 tillable acres with a CPI of 92.9.

Sibley County. South of Gibbon, about 139.5 acres sold for $10,100 per acre. The farm consists of 137.42 tillable acres with a CPI of 91.1.

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

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.