From Drought to Flood…to Drought? Going into the 2013 growing season, our biggest concern was extremely low soil moisture after the 2012 drought. How quickly things change. The March-May period was the wettest such period in Iowa’s 141 years of weather history. June precipitation and temperatures were near normal overall, except for the northern tier of our area where wetter conditions persisted. It should have been obvious when heavy snow fell on May 1st and 2nd, followed by 106 degrees in Sioux City on May 14th, that we were in for a very unusual year. Even parts of southern Iowa received up to 8 inches of snow.
As expected, the volume of sales after the 2012 year-end rush has dropped back to a more normal flow. We’ve tracked 85 parcels sold at auction through June in our area, as compared to 142 at this point in 2012 but comparable to the 88 tracked in 2011. It is typical to see most land auctions occur in the second half of the year. Land prices continue upward in most cases. Most of the gain has occurred after March 1st as there were fewer sales right after the first of the year. Even areas that are under severe crop stress this year are showing mostly steady to higher land sales compared to earlier sales in those areas. There are always exceptions to the rule.
The dramatic increase in the dollars handled by farming operations over the past several years has been a challenge for some landowners to absorb. Net returns to farm operators and landowners operating under a custom farming agreement have increased significantly the past five years. Higher grain prices, higher crop insurance coverage levels, and somewhat stable crop input expenses have led to record profits the past few years.
Grant Aschinger joined the Stalcup Ag staff in May 2013 as a Farm Manager. Grant will be working with Stalcup managers for the next twelve to eighteen months to learn all facets of our business. He is currently taking courses to become a Real Estate Salesperson. He will also be taking classes on farm management working toward the Accredited Farm Manager (AFM) title
If you plan to make changes to your 2014 lease terms, you need to properly notify your farm operator prior to September 1st according to Iowa Code. Some people prefer to have the new lease in place prior to September 1st, but if that is not possible, send written notice by certified mail, and you can negotiate the new terms anytime this fall or winter.
