A 154-acre farm near Indianola, Iowa, sold at auction this January for $1.54 million, but it wasn’t a typical land sale. Along with the ground came one important condition: the longtime owner, Gwen Hodson, 93, will be allowed to remain in the farmhouse for the rest of her life.

corn harvesting silos in background

With 2025 in the rearview mirror, what’s ahead for farmers and landowners in 2026? That question can cause anxiety for those who make their living off the land.  Jim Knuth, senior vice president of lending in Iowa for Farm Credit Services of America, said that when he looks at what happened last year, there is reason to be cautious—but also optimistic. Knuth spoke during one of the breakout sessions at the Land Investment Expo held earlier this month in Des Moines, Iowa.  Here are some of the...

There is a new number one on the list of the nation’s leading landowners in the United States. If you don’t recognize the name, Stan Kroenke, you are probably at least familiar with some of the sports teams he owns: the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. The sports and entertainment mogul now owns 2.7 million acres of private land, consisting mostly of cattle ranches, according to the new Land Report 100  list. Kroenke was number four on last...

American Farmland Owner writes about some of the farmland and ranch sales that happen all over the country. From 500,000-acre cattle ranches to much smaller family farms entering the market for the first time in 150 years, we are often intrigued by the stories behind the land as it changes hands.     Here are three of them we chose to highlight from the past year, including some of the features that make them unique:  Great Western Ranch. Photo courtesy: Hall and Hall. One of the Biggest The...

If 2025 was supposed to be the year farmland values either took a sharp turn up or down, the data delivered a different story: most land markets largely held their ground. After several years of rapid appreciation fueled by strong commodity prices, low interest rates, and limited supply, farmland values across the Midwest entered a period of what many experts call an “adjustment”.  2025 became a year defined by stabilization, uneven performance, and a growing divide between high-quality land...

A large, family-owned farmland portfolio spanning southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle exceeded expectations at a November multi-parcel auction, drawing strong interest from both local producers and out-of-state buyers. The sale included 5,043 acres of irrigated cropland, dryland, grass, and CRP ground located within a 30-mile radius across Seward and Stevens Counties, Kansas, and Beaver County, Oklahoma. Marketed jointly by Peoples Company and The Lund Company, the auction generated...

If you’ve been waiting for a big drop or even an increase in Iowa farmland values this year, you won’t find it in the newest  Iowa State University Land Value Survey . The survey offers a simple answer: not much changed, at least according to the overall numbers.  The 2025 report shows that the average value of Iowa farmland inched up just 0.7%, or $83 per acre, bringing the statewide average to $11,549 per acre. That’s still $286 below the 2023 peak, when values reached a record $11,835. But...

Tyson Foods’ decision last month to shut down one of its largest beef-processing plants in Lexington, Nebraska, has organizations scrambling to support the thousands of employees who will soon be out of work and cattle ranchers wondering what is ahead. The company is the nation’s largest meat supplier. It plans to close the 3,000-employee facility—which can process nearly 5,000 head of cattle per day—in January. The shutdown comes as an historic cattle shortage continues to squeeze...

Every quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its findings on land values for the states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Its latest report released last week shows a modest increase of 3% in values for the area overall compared to the same time last year. This 3% gain matches the amount recorded in 2024. The Bank sends out a survey to district agricultural bankers each quarter to measure the temperature of the farming economy. This latest compilation was...

A new chapter in Iowa’s biomanufacturing story is officially underway. Earlier this month, BioMADE, state leaders, and Iowa State University celebrated the groundbreaking of a pilot-scale bioindustrial manufacturing facility near Ames. The $40 million project, set to open in 2027, is expected to produce everything from national defense products to consumer goods like fabrics and detergents. The company and state leaders say it will boost Iowa’s rural economy and at the same time, give...

Jon Kinzenbaw has been a tractor guy for most of his life. The founder and CEO of Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg, Iowa, has a lot of them in his personal collection — more than 600, to be precise. But he decided it was time to let some of them go. On November 4, Kinzenbaw held a long-awaited auction, handled by Sullivan Auctioneers, a BigIron company, marking the first time he had ever sold part of his collection. The tractors up for grabs were mostly duplicates, but that didn’t stop...