Corn Belt agriculture is experiencing some of the most interesting times in its history. Volatile markets, world economics, cheap interest rates, record profit margins, competition for additional land, and a solid agricultural economy all add up to opportunities for landowners. Landowners need to understand the current economics of production agriculture. We’ve rapidly advanced from top end yield potential of 160 bushel per acre corn at $2.00 per bushel 10 years ago to 200 bushels per acre potential at $5.00 to $7.00 per bushel today. The amount of profit potential has changed immensely over the past 5-6 years.
Farmland sale prices continue to move higher, particularly on the best land and that situated in the most competitive neighborhoods. A new high sale mark was set in early October when 120 acres in Sioux County, sold for $16,750 per acre or $2,010,000. The public seems to enjoy shaking its head and wondering how that can be. Simply put, that is competition at its finest in a very strong area, competing for farmland that is some of the highest quality, consistent in production, and easily farmed. The bidders in that area are financially capable of pushing the market to new heights. High sales capture the headlines, but what is the land market doing as a whole? Sales of the better farmland around the region are ranging from $9,000 to $12,000 per acre depending on location and features of the farm and neighborhood. There have been at least ten sales exceeding $13,000 per acre, all in the northwestern part of the area (Sioux, O’Brien, and Lyon Counties).
Farmers across the country are adopting new precision technology. Some of this technology has been around since the early 90’s but hasn’t taken off until recent years. Advances in technology along with record high commodity prices and high input costs are driving this movement. Today many tractors are operated by a touch screen monitor and GPS. Combines now come standard with monitors used to map yield and moisture. Also any crop input product that goes on the field can be variable rate applied. Everything that goes into or comes out of the farm is mapped every year. Soil samples are mapped, (grid sampled) every four years usually on a 2 ½ acre grid.
Lyn Berkland announced his retirement, effective July 1, 2011 after thirty-five years with the firm. Over the years Lyn has worked effectively with many farm owners in adopting the best management and conservation practices with the goal of leaving the farm better than he found it.
For the second year in a row, farmers in Northwest Iowa have enjoyed a rapid harvest. Starting in late September with soybeans, the harvest progressed for a month nearly uninterrupted. At the time of this writing in late October, all of the soybeans and virtually all of the corn has been combined. The only real obstacle this fall has been several very warm, windy days when fire danger was extreme. There were numerous combine and field fires in the area this fall, and on the worst days some farmers chose to delay harvest rather than risk starting a fire.
