Minnesota and other Corn Belt states entered planting season this spring with many producers waiting for fields to dry, and several regional managers report planting is behind where it was a year ago. Drought and dry winds have been particularly severe across Nebraska and the Plains, and this spring fires burned an estimated 800,000 acres of pasture in the Nebraska sandhills and damaged rangeland in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. 800,000+ acres burned is the scale of loss many ranchers face as they try to start the grazing season.
Global tensions have lifted commodity and input prices at times this spring, with the Strait of Hormuz and oil-export risks cited as drivers for short-term market moves. The Farm Bureau reports farm diesel prices have jumped sharply since late February, and input cost data show fertilizer prepay prices rising as well. Farmers and advisers are watching input costs closely: diesel prices +46% since late February is a key pressure point for operations that still need fuel and nitrogen.
That squeeze on inputs has not translated into lower prices for high-quality tillable land in many parts of the Midwest. Several recent sales in southern Minnesota and neighboring states show continued strength, with multiple tracts trading at or above $12,000 per acre in the past month. $12,000-plus per acre has become a benchmark cited by brokers for top-quality parcels while lower-quality or more marginal ground sells at substantially less.
Recent county sales
Hertz Farm Management compiled a list of notable transactions across Minnesota, highlighting a range of prices tied to productivity and location. A Brown County tract northeast of Comfrey sold at $10,314 per acre ($10,800 per tillable acre) for about 152.25 acres with a Crop Productivity Index (CPI) of 92, while a Faribault County property south of Delavan moved for $12,200 per acre ($12,434 per tillable acre) on roughly 123.02 acres with a CPI of 93.5.
Other reported sales include an 80.39-acre parcel south of Walters for $10,500 per acre ($11,030 per tillable acre) with a CPI of 86.1; a 233.25-acre Kittson County farm west of Karlstad at $5,120 per acre ($5,798 per tillable acre) with a CPI of 52.3; and a McLeod County sale south of Brownton of about 120 acres at $9,812 per acre ($10,080 per tillable acre) with a CPI of 88.2.
Further transactions reported by Hertz include a Nobles County sale east of Reading, roughly 74.05 acres at $14,835 per acre ($15,655 per tillable acre) with a CPI of 97; a Traverse County listing east of Dumont reported at $14,835 per acre (reported as $9,040 per tillable acre) on about 147.51 acres with a CPI of 94.2; and a Watonwan County parcel south of Lewisville, about 151.08 acres sold for $12,650 per acre ($13,000 per tillable acre) with a CPI of 93.6.
Hertz Farm Management compiled the sale list but did not handle every transaction; readers can call Hertz at 507-345-5263 or visit visithertz.ag for details. The article and sale compilation were prepared by Jared Augustine, a Minnesota-licensed real estate salesperson with Hertz Farm Management based in Mankato, who lives near Minnesota Lake with his wife and four children.
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