September 28, 2020
While much of 2020 has felt like shaky ground, good-quality farmland remains a rock-solid investment. The global pandemic as reflected in the land market reveals more impact on process than prices, according to farmland managers and appraisers in several Midwest states.
In Iowa, Dennis Reyman says although sales of farmland “paused” for a couple months when news of COVID-19 broke, values overall have remained steady. The global pandemic brought farmland sales in Iowa to a near standstill for about 60 days, but farmland values have stayed stable throughout the year and the auction pace is picking up for fall, says Reyman, a partner at Stalcup Ag Service at Storm Lake in northwest Iowa. Listings increased versus auctions during the second quarter, particularly on land lower than Grade A.
“Steady is the story on good land,” adds Reyman, an accredited farm manager, accredited rural appraiser and president-elect of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. ASFMRA, the nation’s largest professional association for rural property land experts, sponsored the national land price webinar Aug. 25 to discuss price trends on rural property, the impacts of COVID-19 on the market, and who is buying and selling land.