Late summer/early fall is traditionally the time when the topic of cash rent for next year comes up. With the very narrow profit margins we have experienced over the last two years, we expect this year will be busy with rent discussions. There are a lot of considerations that need to go into the rental rate decision.
The easy question of the day is: Has the land market gone down? Yes. The harder question is: How much? We’ve answered that question a good number of times in recent months with our appraisal work, where we’ve been asked to provide updated values for appraisals completed in 2013 or 2014. Some of these have been for estate settlements with IRS where the executor can elect to utilize the six-month alternate date of value. Lower land values six months later can save money on taxes due. Of course, IRS will scrutinize the appraisal to make sure all claims are justified.
Several land improvement items have proven their worth time and again over the years. Years ago, terracing was one of the first things one thought of in regards to land improvement. Today’s modern equipment is capable of doing a much better job of planting into reduced tillage and no-till soil environments. Many old terrace systems are now removed as being obsolete for the width of modern equipment. New terrace installations are now less common even though many acres might still benefit from some terracing. Terraces should still be considered on some areas of some farms.
Most corn in Northwest Iowa was planted on time in late April or early May. Soybean planting was extended because of wet conditions, but the majority of farms were planted by June 1st, which is not unusually late. Crops generally look good throughout most of Northwest Iowa, but the season has not been without some challenges. A cold spell in May slowed crop development.
The June 30th Acreage and Stocks Reports showed lower than expected planted acres and grain stocks. Planting intentions for corn acres dropped 302,000 acres from March to June and total just short of 89 million acres. This is the smallest corn acreage number since 2010. Soybean acres are still projected record large at over 85 million, but not as overwhelming as were predicted earlier in the year
