NEW PARIS, Ind. — Despite declining farmland values, one Indiana spread in a recent auction soared above the average market price. A 209-acre grain farm at New Paris in the northern part of the state went for $2.95 million.

That’s about $14,000 per acre, well above the $9,300 average price for top-quality  farmland in Indiana as cited by a recent Purdue University study. Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. of Columbia City said the farm has 205 tillable acres and storage for 70,000 bushels.

There were about 25 bidders from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado and Pennsylvania. An undisclosed farmer from nearby with plans to expand his current grain-producing operation came out on top in the bidding.

“There’s still a good market for quality land in the Midwest,” said  R.D. Schrader, president of the company.

A recent Purdue Land Value and Cash Rent Survey revealed prices for the state’s top-quality farmland declined 5 percent to about $9,300 per acre, over the past year. Farmland of average quality fell by 3.8 percent, from $7,976 to $7,672, and prices for low-quality land fell 4.8 percent, to $5,863. It was the first time since 2009 all three farmland classes in Indiana declined in value in the same year.

Chris Hurt, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue, called the sale price for  the farm in New Paris unusual but noted there can be exceptions, particularly if there are seed contracts, an irrigation system or a windmill that comes with the property.

Having two financially strong bidders with a burning desire for a property that fits well with their current operations or as a long-term investment are other potential factors in going above the average market value, he said. “It sounds like it had quite an attraction for some reason,” said Hurt.

Gary Bailey, a sales manager for Schrader, said farmland has not declined here for many years, estimating the average price in the New Paris area currently at about $12,000 per acre. He said the farmland here is flat with easy to irrigate and drain, rich soil, and supply of the ground is limited from not often being put up for sale.

Bailey said the final two bidders being local farmers with a need to expand also had much to do with the high sale price.

Other states have also experienced falling prices, with Iowa, for example, seeing a 7.6 percent drop in the average value for top-quality farmland over the past six months and an 11 percent decline over the past year. A report by the Iowa Realtors Land Institute shows the average value for top quality land at $11,619 an acre in the northwestern part of the state, while the value for the same quality in southern areas is $7,775.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which covers Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and parts of Illinois, estimated land values since July 2014 have dropped 3 percent.

Hurt said declining property values have much to do with falling grain prices. Land values after the recession hit started going back up in 2010 when grain prices began skyrocketing from high demand and limited supplies. With supplies helped by a 2013 bumper crop now overtaking demand, land values are again in decline with the cost of grain production exceeding what’s paid in return, he said.

“It’s not just the low price. It’s low price with the high cost structure that we have,” he explained.