Longtime Midwest Land Broker Dennis Reyman: Farmers Still Most of Land Buyers

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Farms are getting bigger, and there are fewer farms each year. Those changes have taken place over a number of years. But Dennis Reyman, Partner at Stalcup Agricultural Services in Storm Lake, Iowa, said one factor remains constant in a constantly changing agricultural industry: farmers are still doing most of the farm buying.

“…as far as land ownership, the trends are kind of the same as they usually are,” Reyman told American Farmland Owner. “Most of the buyers are farmers, and that would be farmers within, say, a 6-to-10-mile radius. That is usually where your lead bidders are going to come from.”

Reyman has a rare three-fold farm experience: grew up on a farm, still farms as an adult, and has sold more than 100 farms in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota over his 30-year career.

Dennis Reyman bio:

• Lifelong Farmer -- Grew up on a Century Farm in Woodbury County, Iowa

• Farmland Owner -- Owns & operates a 500-acre farm in Woodbury County, Iowa (corn, soybeans, alfalfa, CRP, and cow-calf)

• Stalcup Agricultural Service, Inc. – Partner (began employment in 1993)

• ASFMRA -- Past national president

• ASFMRA Iowa Chapter – Past president

• Accredited Farm Manager (AFM) designation from ASFMRA

Farmers Are Buying Most of the Land

Reyman estimates that “maybe 70–80% of the land buyers are farmers from the general neighborhood. And that really doesn’t change much.”

While each neighborhood varies, local operators remain the foundation of demand.

In livestock-intensive areas, farmer ownership becomes even more dominant. “If you’ve got a really strong, say, especially a livestock-intensive neighborhood, the farmers are going to buy most of that land, maybe nearly all of it,” Reyman explained.

Those areas also tend to command premium prices. “That’s where you see the $20,000 plus land sales. That goes in hand-in-hand with livestock almost always.”

RELATED: This is why a Midwest farm exceeded sales expectations by $3,000 per acre. 

Livestock brings manure nutrients, steady feed demand and competition for acres — all factors that support stronger land values. For farmland owners in these regions, that dynamic continues to underpin resilient demand.

1031 Exchanges for Farmland

That’s not to say investors are absent. Reyman recalled a period in the 2000s housing boom when 1031 exchange money flowed into farmland. “We did see an influx, a number of years ago, of 1031 exchanges when the housing boom was going on,” he said.

Developers from Omaha and Des Moines would sell property and reinvest in Iowa farmland.

Even then, many so-called “investors” had agricultural roots.

“A lot of those people were pretty retired farmers or pretty closely tied to farms,” Reyman said. “So that’s what I categorize most of the investors that come into this area.”

While some outside capital exists, “most of the investors would be local-type people… they grew up on the farm, they’re buying somewhere in their general vicinity of where they grew up,” Reyman explained.

Quality Matters in Farmland

Quality, however, is increasingly separating markets within markets.

“You know the old saying is that you pay for a good farm once, and that always remains true,” Reyman said. “Those premium farms, those top-quality farms…they’re always going to sell well.”

In fact, he prefers public auctions for premium properties because competitive bidding often reveals their true value. “You may just come down to having two bidders,” he noted, “but there’s other people that didn’t show their hand because the bidding may have outpaced where they wanted to go.”

Lower-quality farms tell a different story. “Lower quality could be soil type, it could be configuration, it could be drainage,” Reyman said.

In softer markets, those tracts are the first to feel pressure. “It takes two to make an auction work,” he added. “Those lower quality farms… you get into a time like now, where it’s a little slower, those farms will be the first ones to shorten up a little bit.”

South American Competition for U.S. Corn and Soybeans

Beyond ownership trends, Reyman also addressed longer-term questions about Iowa’s agricultural future. With growing competition from South America in corn and soybean production, some wonder whether Midwestern farmers will need to pivot.

“That’s a possibility,” Reyman acknowledged. “All things change over time. If the Southern Hemisphere continues to ramp up production, maybe our lesser quality areas change into something else. The market will dictate where it goes.”

Still, he remains confident in Iowa’s structural advantages. “As long as our climate is favorable to Iowa, I see Iowa maintaining its dominance in corn and soybeans,” he said. “We’ve got the infrastructure. We’re set up to handle that.”

Critics sometimes argue Midwest farmers rely too heavily on two crops. Reyman’s response is pragmatic. “It’s what we do best. It’s what we’re set up to do, so let’s go with it.”

He does see potential in alternative crops such as alfalfa, particularly for livestock operators like himself. “It’s generally a four-year crop,” he said, noting its agronomic benefits. “It’s a legume, so it fixes nitrogen in the soil… and it does a lot for weed control.”

But he also acknowledged the hurdles: different machinery, storage needs and reliable markets.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, Reyman is watching grain markets closely. “I’m watching for a moderate breakout to the upside on grains,” he said, adding that weather could always play a role.

More importantly, he is focused on demand. “If I’m looking at one thing, I’m looking for how the demand side develops… mainly through domestic.”

Renewable fuels remain central to that outlook. “Renewable diesel and E15 would be the main drivers,” Reyman said.

Having used ethanol blends for decades, he expressed confidence in expanded usage.