A recent $30,000 per acre land sale in Sioux County, Iowa, sends signals into the land market in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and even as far away as Indiana.
Last winter's uncertainly on fertilizer inputs has subsided somewhat. Flexible or not, any lease is likely to reflect the strong prices for commodities and the demand for cropland.
LeRoy and Rosemary Helbling of Mandan, North Dakota, farm with International Harvester equipment that is mostly 30 to 40 years old, kept in pristine condition. They raise crops primarily as feed for their Hereford herd of cows.
Topics covered at the meetings will include local historic and projected farmland rental rate trends, current farmland values and sales and a worksheet that will help determine a fair rental agreement. Input costs for 2022 will be presented, along with current 2022 corn and soybean prices.
If you hit both a high price and high yield last year, you had a fantastic year; if you hit both of those items on the low side last year, you had a disaster. All this happened within 30 miles of each other last year in our local area.
Brian Bjork, 62, (pronounced “Byork”) a farmer from Forman, North Dakota, is selling his machinery piecemeal after making the decision in December 2021 to retire from farming. His reasoning: used equipment values are “hot” and unlikely to improve. He’ll enjoy retirement near family and will work for a young neighbor who will rent his land.
The NCUA has revised its strategic plan to clarify that the agency will not take regulatory action based on “climate-related financial risks” to discourage credit unions from lending to “family farms and others in the agricultural sector as well as businesses tied to the fossil fuel industry.”
"Tenants have the right for a crack at a reasonable profit on farming the land, while landlords have the right to expect a rental rate comparable to similar land in the area. Both sides are equally important, and both need to be reflected in the final agreement."
