For Sale: Cropland in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Spanning two states, Hudye Farm is the largest dryland and irrigated farm ever to be offered for sale in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.

Assembled over the past ten years, this ranch includes 17,741 acres of high quality farmlands with excellent production history, topography, soils and water conditions. Located in the top grain growing region of this area, the crops grown are primarily corn and wheat.

According to broker Bart Miller of Mason & Morse Ranch Company, this farm presents “a unique opportunity for somebody to come in—whether some local farmers or a large investor or two—to basically put themselves on the map with a 17,000-plus acre farm. Strong cash flow, strong tenants—it’s a great property.” Click here to hear a radio interview with Bart Miller about this amazing farm.*

The Hudye Farm is listed with Mason & Morse Ranch Company for $49 million. For more information, contact Bart Miller at (970) 928-7100.

*Interview provided by Brownfield Radio Network.

Sold! 80,000 Acres of Wisconsin Timberland

Update 1/2012

Late last year, a deal was struck to sell the 80,200 acres of timberland in northern Wisconsin for $42.9 million dollars to two companies that manage timberland throughout the U.S.

According to LandVest, Inc. broker David Speirs, the Lyme Timber Company, which is based in Hanover, New Hampshire, has an agreement to purchase 72,800 acres. The Forestland Group, headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is set to purchase the remaining 7,400 acres.

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The Wausau Paper Timberlands offer approximately 80,000 acres of prime timberland located throughout the northern half of the state of Wisconsin. A leading producer of fine printing and writing papers, towel and tissue products, and specialty papers, Wausau has been divesting non-strategic timber holdings since 2005. Most of these 80,000 acres have been sustainably managed by Wausau since the 1940s for the production of wood fiber.

The acreage consists primarily of natural and planted northern pine species. In addition to timber value, the acreage offers an extensive number of land uses, including recreational and conservation opportunities.

This property is available through LandVest . For more information, contact David Speirs at (207) 874-4982 or dspeirs@landvest.com.

On the Block: 3,379 acres of Farmland in Boone County, Illinois

Schrader Real Estate & Auction Company will manage the sale of the 48 tracts, which total some 2,900 tillable acres. “It’s possible that we will have some large investors seeking to purchase substantial amounts of land, but local farmers and investors seeking 100 acres or less will have an equal chance to buy the land they want,” says R.D. Schrader.

Located five miles east of Rockford, the tracts range in size from 2± acres to more than 200 acres and will be available for the 2012 crop year.

Date: 10:00 a.m. central time, November 19, 2011

Location: Community Building Complex of Boone County
111 W. 1st Street, Belvidere, Illinois 61008
Phone: (815) 547-3928

For more information:
Schrader Real Estate & Auction Company
(800) 451-2709
www.SchraderAuction.com

Land Report Top Ten: November 2011

From Hawaii to the Lone Star State, here are America’s priciest properties, led by $175 million Jackson Land and Cattle Ranch, pictured here, which is listed by Hall and Hall.

1. Jackson Land and Cattle: $175 million

These 1,750 acres are simply the most phenomenal property to come to the market in the Teton Valley in decades. Jackson Land and Cattle is one-of-a-kind in every respect: world-class improvements, including an equestrian center designed by Jonathan Foote, AIA; lack of any development restrictions; and don’t forget the stunning Teton views. Hall and Hall’s John Pierce has the listing.

2. Walton Ranch: $100 million

This 1,848-acre working cattle ranch was pieced together by the Walton family beginning in 1958. The family placed the ranch under conservation easement in 1983. Billy Long and Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates have the listing.

3. Ranch Dos Pueblos: $84 million

This oceanfront parcel is on the market for the first time in three decades. Spanning 2,175 acres just west of Santa Barbara, it’s one of the largest remaining ranches along the breathtaking Gaviota Coast. Kerry Mormann & Associates has the listing.

4. Tranquility Estate: $75 million

These 210 acres on Lake Tahoe are crowned by a 20,000 square-foot mansion. Owned by Tommy Hilfiger co-founder Joel Horowitz, it was originally priced at $100 million in 2006. Listed by Shari Chase and Sue Lowe of Chase International.

5. Aspen Valley Ranch: $59 million

Billed as the largest ranch near Aspen in the Roaring Fork Valley, this ranch boasts senior water rights as well as over 800 acres and is located just 10 minutes from the Aspen airport. Joshua Saslove of Joshua & Co. has the listing.

6. Robert Taylor Ranch: $56 million

112 acres in Los Angeles’s tony Brentwood enclave. The roomy ranch house, which was designed by Robert Byrd, features 17 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International has the listing.

7. Hana Ranch: $55 million
This 4,500-acre working ranch on eastern Maui surrounds the town of Hana. The property boasts two miles of Pacific oceanfront and rises over 2,200 feet up the slopes of Haleakala. Dan Omer of Island Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

8. Rockpile Ranch: $54 million

For only the third time in over a century, this 55,374-acre cattle ranch in the Davis Mountains of Far West Texas is on the market. Since 1992, the Rockpile has been owned by McCoy Remme Ranches (No. 41 on the 2011 Land Report 100). James King of King Land and Water is the listing agent.

9. Dana Ranch: $45 million

With only two distinguished owners in nearly 100 years and an unmatched record of profitability, the Dana is considered by many to be the finest operating and recreational ranch in the Rocky Mountain West. Supporting 3,000 animal units on 59,000± acres, it boasts over 13 miles of superb fisheries and an incredible diversity of wildlife resources from elk to waterfowl to upland birds. Listed by Dave Johnson with Hall and Hall.

10. Flying Dog Ranch: $40 million

This 245-acre Aspen landmark features nearly a mile of Collins Creek and Woody Creek and borders the White River National Forest. Morris & Fyrwald Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

Click here to download a copy of the November 2011 newsletter.

Land Report November 2011 Newsletter

Take a moment to scan the November edition of The Land Report newsletter. You’ll be amazed at the amount of activity going on in land markets currently.

Impending auctions of key parcels, record-setting new listings, fire-sale prices on bankrupt holdings – the number of transactions taking place in all sectors is quite encouraging and, as you will soon read, in all parts of the country.

For more up to the minute reports on listings, auctions, sales, and breaking news pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter.

P.S. Our award-winning quarterly magazine is available in a print version via subscription.

Sold! Nebraska’s Circle Cross Ranch

Update 12/2011

Forty-three minutes into the auction, the entire Circle Cross Ranch in Valentine, Nebraska sold for $11.75 million. The winning bidders, cattlemen Danny Weinreis of Minatare, Neb., and Gene Weinreis of Golva, N.D., along with their brothers, plan to continue operating Circle Cross as a cattle ranch. According to Danny Weinreis, “It’s really great cattle country here. We’re cow-calf operators. That’s what we’re looking for: a good feed base and a place to run mother cows.”

Auctioned by Hall and Hall, the auction attracted some of Cherry County’s largest landowners and about 30 bidders from across the country.

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Nestled in the Sandhills region of Northwestern Nebraska lies the spectacular 40,520± acre Circle Cross Ranch. Tucked in against the Niobrara National Scenic River, the Circle Cross  is located about 20 minutes southwest of the Nebraska town of Valentine. The Circle Cross includes 12,020± deeded acres, a 16,500± acre permit in the McKelvie National Forest, 3,400± acres of private and state lease,  and some 8,600± acres of additional private leases.

The ranch is irrigated by several wells on the property as well as pumps drawing water from the Niobrara. Approximately 1,100 acres of the ranch are irrigated through 7 pivot irrigation systems. The water is of excellent quality and abundant. Several stock tanks and ponds also dot the landscape around the ranch.

Cattle thrive on the Circle Cross’s vast grasslands and prairies. In addition, hay, corn, and other crops can be easily grown thanks to the well-developed irrigation system on the property.

Driving through the ranch you’ll find open plains, rugged terrain, and scenic trails following the river and through its many wooded areas. The land use permits on the adjacent Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest add additional grazing and recreational opportunities.

The Circle Cross is an ideal setting for operating a cattle operation, for crop production, or for a country gentlemen’s ranch and getaway.

Date: 10:00 a.m. Central Time, December 2, 2011

Location: Valentine, Nebraska

For more information or to receive a detailed brochure:
Hall and Hall Auctions
(800) 829-8747
www.HallandHall.com 

Trend Watch: Income-Producing Properties

Check out this informative video from ranch brokers Ken Mirr and Jeff Hubbard of Mirr Ranch Group.

Ranch brokers Ken Mirr and Jeff Hubbard discuss the increase in demand they are seeing for income-producing properties for sale. These ranch experts suggest that this type of ranch, coupled with recreational values, makes for a truly special property. Thunder Ranch, a Utah ranch for sale, is used as an example.

Record 17% Jump in Farmland Values

Farmland values in the Federal Reserve’s Seventh District climbed a record 17 percent during the second quarter of 2011, according to the Chicago Fed’s Farmland Values and Agricultural Credit Conditions Report. This economic shot in the arm marks the largest year-over-year gain since the 1970s for the District’s five-state area—one of the most productive regions in the Midwest. The value of “good” farmland increased 4 percent during the second quarter, compared with the first quarter of this year.

The report was compiled from the Chicago Fed’s survey of 226 bankers in the District, which includes Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Findings revealed that higher revenues for crops and livestock, coupled with growing investor demand, fueled the rural real estate roll. Agricultural mortgage rates averaged 5.62 percent—a record low that also contributed to the surge in District farmland values. Some respondents cited a higher-than-usual number of summer auctions as a factor.

“The combination of higher revenues for crop and livestock production has been an impetus for the significant increases in agricultural land values seen this year in the District,” the Fed reported in its newsletter. “Demand for farmland remained strong from both farmers and investors.”
Among the District states, only Wisconsin had a smaller year-over-year increase in farmland values in the second quarter of 2011 than in the first. Year-over-year land values in Indiana and Iowa climbed 21 and 20 percent respectively, while values in Wisconsin rose a modest 8 percent. Fewer than 2 percent of the survey respondents expect farmland values to decline in the third quarter of 2011.

Subscribe to The Land Report HERE.

David Oppedahl, a business economist for the Chicago Fed, shares the bankers’ notion that the spike is no fluke. “Overall, the higher level of corn and soybean prices looks to be something that will continue through the end of the year,” he said early this week. “I think that over the next year we aren’t going to see any declines, and we are going to see continued increases, though probably not as strong as over the past year.”

On November 15, 2011, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago will hold a conference to explore the factors contributing to large increases in agricultural land values and cash rental rates in the Midwest. The details and agenda are available HERE.

Indiana Farmland Reaches New Highs

Recent record-setting prices for prime Indiana farmland prompted The Land Report to reach out to Rex Schrader, chief financial officer of Schrader Real Estate & Auction Company. In late June, the company’s auction division sold properties in Spencer and in Randolph counties. Both auctions saw record prices per acre.

The Spencer County land sold at prices as high as $6,875 per acre, with most of the tillable land selling for $6,428 and $6,554 per acre. “We sold about 223 acres of this land in 2003 for $1,930 per acre, which was good at the time. It’s more than tripled,” said Schrader. Mason Seay, a longtime agriculture specialist for German American Bank, said the price was “the highest ever for land in Spencer County for row crop production.” Approximately 82 percent of the Spencer County land was tillable.

In the Randolph County auction, 551 acres sold to a single buyer for $2,677,500, or $4,859 per acre. “Like the Spencer County land, this property had appreciated considerably,” said Schrader. “The price varies according to quality and location, but across the board the clear direction is up.”

Schrader’s many years in the business led him to share some other observations on the current ag land market. “The larger the acreage offering, the more interest there is,” he says. “Ten years ago at a Schrader auction, a lot more buyers ended up on the winning end. More lots sold in smaller tracts. Today we’re seeing a trend of more and more farms being purchased in whole.”

Read the Chicago Fed’s most recent report on rising farmland values HERE.

Although some skeptics assert that the current market for top ag land has all the makings of a bubble, Schrader disagrees.  ”I don’t believe it is a bubble. This market is based on income, on expected income. Commodity markets lead land prices. Follow corn prices over the past few years and you can see why land prices continue to rise,” Schrader says.

A second driver pushing up prices is basic economics. Schrader cites the limited supply of ag land and points out that those farms tend to remain tightly controlled by farmers or farming interests.

A third and final consideration is alternative investment vehicles. Anyone who has paid attention to the schizophrenic gyrations of the Dow this week knows that a low correlation exists between investing in equities and sleeping easy.

So who continues to push prices higher? Despite the entry of non-traditional investors into the market, Schrader sees farmers as the principal drivers. “The farmer is still the bull in the market place. They are the ones driving the market. Right now, the debt to asset ratio of most farmers is very low. They’ve made a lot of profit in the last three to four years. On top of that, other investors such as investment funds typically have to look at returns as a rigid guideline. That gives a farmer a little more leeway to pay a slight premium above the ratio of net income to purchase price.”

Schrader’s closing comments aren’t about land. They are about capital:

It’s amazing how much money is out there today. And it’s all waiting to pounce on the right piece of property. - Rex Schrader

Based in Columbia City, Indiana, Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company is a leading auctioneer of tillable farmland throughout the U.S. Individuals seeking additional information about the firm and its auctions may visit www.schraderauction.com or call (800) 451-2709.

Subscribe to the Magazine of the American Landowner HERE.

 

America’s Top Brokerages and Auction Houses: Farmers National Company

Farmers National Company was begun in 1929—historically not a banner year for starting new businesses, but over 80 years have passed and the company is thriving. Originally, the company’s core business was farm management, and today it’s the largest, fastest-growing and most successful farm management company in the U.S. The full-service real estate company offers traditional listing services as well as auction services.

Where: Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Operates in 23 states, covering a wide swath of the middle of the country. Its newest office was just added in Washington state.

Why: “We completed nearly 200 successful auctions of over 41,000 acres in 2010,” say Lee Vermeer, VP of Real Estate Operations. The sheer reach of Farmers and impressive closed sale numbers are overwhelming.

Wow: “Farmers National Company has sold over 2,600 farms and ranches and completed 750 successful auctions, resulting in over $1.25 billion in sales in the last four years,” says Vermeer. “We have over 200 licensed agents, all of whom can offer full auction services.”

Farmers National Company
$135 million (2010 auction revenues)
www.farmersnational.com

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