A plot of rich farmland in Plymouth County this week sold for what is believed to be a state record of $26,250 per acre.
The land, between Remsen and Marcus, Iowa, went up for auction Monday. Bidding took 15 or 20 minutes, auctioneer Bruce R. Brock said. Three bidders pushed the price to $25,000, then two bidders jockeying for the land pushed the price up to $26,250 in a matter of one or two minutes before the hammer fell.
"It was really rapid-paced bidding," Brock said in an interview.
The grand total for the 55.56 acres was over $1.458 million, Brock said. The per-acre price is believed to be a record in Iowa. The buyer is a farmer in the area.
The seller was John Fiscus, who lives near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Brock said. The somewhat non-standard number of acres in the sale (farmland is often sold in quarter-sections, 160 acres, or half-quarter sections, 80 acres) was the result of the farmland having been parceled out among members of a family over time.
"So that's why it was an odd-shaped piece, it was just divided up between some family members," Brock said.
The price was all the more remarkable due to the fact that the land has no other use except agriculture. There are no revenue-generating wind turbines on the land, and the property is too far away from any town or city to be readily used for residential or commercial development.
"Just pure farm-ground," is how Brock put it. (Brock's website described the land as "productive and powerful.")
Land of this quality has in recent times averaged about $20,000 to $22,500 per acre, Brock said.
This isn't the first time this year Plymouth County farmland has set a record at the auction block. In May, 96.33 acres of farmland, which included a 3.67-acre farmstead southeast of Le Mars, sold for over $2.6 million.
Later in the summer, a Sioux County farm was sold at auction for $26,000 an acre.
Many farmers in Northwest Iowa are relatively cash-rich, said Jim Rothermich, vice president at Iowa Appraisal, a commercial and agricultural property appraiser in Des Moines. Because of this, they can afford to pay higher prices for farmland even as interest rates rise.
"There's so many people in strong cash positions, especially up there in Northwest Iowa," Rothermich said by phone. "Very strong equity positions with people up there."
Farmland in Plymouth, O'Brien and Sioux counties, are rich and productive and offers close access to ethanol plants and livestock and poultry operations, has long been among the most valuable in the state of Iowa.
The top 10 highest prices paid for farmland in Iowa, according to data compiled by Rothermich, were all in Plymouth, Sioux or O'Brien and all were sold within the last two years -- eight of the records were set this year alone.
Agriculture land in that three-county area has ballooned in value in recent years. Between 2020 and 2021, the average acre of farmland in Plymouth County appreciated by 31.4 percent -- to $12,416 per acre -- according to data from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
The land, between Remsen and Marcus, Iowa, went up for auction Monday. Bidding took 15 or 20 minutes, auctioneer Bruce R. Brock said. Three bidders pushed the price to $25,000, then two bidders jockeying for the land pushed the price up to $26,250 in a matter of one or two minutes before the hammer fell.
"It was really rapid-paced bidding," Brock said in an interview.
The grand total for the 55.56 acres was over $1.458 million, Brock said. The per-acre price is believed to be a record in Iowa. The buyer is a farmer in the area.
The seller was John Fiscus, who lives near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Brock said. The somewhat non-standard number of acres in the sale (farmland is often sold in quarter-sections, 160 acres, or half-quarter sections, 80 acres) was the result of the farmland having been parceled out among members of a family over time.
"So that's why it was an odd-shaped piece, it was just divided up between some family members," Brock said.
The price was all the more remarkable due to the fact that the land has no other use except agriculture. There are no revenue-generating wind turbines on the land, and the property is too far away from any town or city to be readily used for residential or commercial development.
"Just pure farm-ground," is how Brock put it. (Brock's website described the land as "productive and powerful.")
Land of this quality has in recent times averaged about $20,000 to $22,500 per acre, Brock said.
This isn't the first time this year Plymouth County farmland has set a record at the auction block. In May, 96.33 acres of farmland, which included a 3.67-acre farmstead southeast of Le Mars, sold for over $2.6 million.
Later in the summer, a Sioux County farm was sold at auction for $26,000 an acre.
Many farmers in Northwest Iowa are relatively cash-rich, said Jim Rothermich, vice president at Iowa Appraisal, a commercial and agricultural property appraiser in Des Moines. Because of this, they can afford to pay higher prices for farmland even as interest rates rise.
"There's so many people in strong cash positions, especially up there in Northwest Iowa," Rothermich said by phone. "Very strong equity positions with people up there."
Farmland in Plymouth, O'Brien and Sioux counties, are rich and productive and offers close access to ethanol plants and livestock and poultry operations, has long been among the most valuable in the state of Iowa.
The top 10 highest prices paid for farmland in Iowa, according to data compiled by Rothermich, were all in Plymouth, Sioux or O'Brien and all were sold within the last two years -- eight of the records were set this year alone.
Agriculture land in that three-county area has ballooned in value in recent years. Between 2020 and 2021, the average acre of farmland in Plymouth County appreciated by 31.4 percent -- to $12,416 per acre -- according to data from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
Plymouth County farmland sells for record $26,250 per acre
A plot of rich farmland this week sold for what is believed to be a state record of $26,250 per acre. Bidding took 15-20 minutes.
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