Search Site   
Current News Stories
UK soil scientist honored for dedication to soil physics
Meat processing plants accused of illegally hiring children
Aggie’s judging contest draws students from three states
Tale of two Kansas museums
Equinox occurs on March 19
Unexpected cheese decline compared to production capacity
Marksmanship can be a fun sport for people of all abilities
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
UK, MSU research looks at ways to better assess racetrack conditions
John Deere Club helps support future Deere workers
What do the horse industry and agriculture have in common?
   
News Articles
Search News  
   
Auction Report
 
Strong prices for farmland,
timber owned by Morgan Foods

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — An auction April 11 of six Indiana farms owned by Morgan Foods attracted a crowd of approximately 140 – including 84 registered bidders – and resulted in the sale of all of the properties for a total of $7,061,000. 
The land, offered in 25 tracts, sold to 10 different buyers, including investors, farmers, timber companies, recreational buyers and the city of Scottsburg. The farms were located in Clark, Jackson, Jefferson, Scott and Washington counties.
“Across the board, it was a very good response, with strong bidding on the tillable land as well as the timber tracts and recreational land. It was good to see the demand on different types of tracts,” said Steve Slonaker, one of the managers of the Morgan Foods auction.
R.D. Schrader, president of Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company, noted that bidders have responded well to other recent auctions of both farmland and recreational land. “Farmland results are holding up better than many had expected, and recreational buyers are out there as well.” He noted that a recent Illinois auction of 3,784 acres – mostly recreational – resulted in a strong turnout and a total of $4,323,000, “even though there were conservation easements on much of the land.”
In another recent auction, 206 acres of farmland sold to a single buyer for $11,286 per acre. “Farmland prices right now vary a great deal based on the location and quality, but there are still many buyers out there,” Schrader said.
Farmland in Douglas County, Ill.
sells for $10,668 per acre

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The auction of a farm that included 196 acres of tillable farmland attracted a crowd of more than 50 people April 14 – including 22 registered bidders – resulting in a sale price of $2,091,000, or $10,668 per acre for the tillable land. Champaign-based Murray Wise Associates marketed the property and managed the auction.
The auction led to a spirited tug of war between farmers and investors, with active bidding for the individual tracts as well as for the two farmland tracts combined.
“This was a remarkable auction in several respects, starting with the fact that we had about a dozen bidders competing very actively for the individual tracts of 110 and 86 acres, and for the combination of all 196 acres. Things went back and forth for quite a while. Local farmers were seeking to add the land to their existing operations, and investors were seeking it as well,” said Joe Bubon, executive vice president of the company.
“In the end, it was an investor buying both land tracts. But the runners-up were farmers bidding on the individual pieces,” Bubon said. He said the price was strong compared with recent land sales.
“The farmland market may not be what it was a year ago, but it’s still very high by historical standards,” Bubon said.

4/23/2015