Investors bought three of the four tillable tracts at an April 3, 2025, auction of an eight-tract farm in Greene County, Iowa, according to Successful Farming. The completed sale covered 530.96 acres and brought about $5.7 million, or an average of $10,750 per acre. It was one specific auction—not a current listing or proof that investors are broadly displacing farmers as farmland buyers.
What happened at the Greene County auction?
The Coleen M. Janssen Estate sold the farm west of Churdan, Iowa, on April 3, 2025. Successful Farming reported that the 530.96 acres were divided into eight tracts and sold for approximately $5.7 million. The average was $10,750 per acre across the entire sale.
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There were 64 registered bidders: 37 attended in person and 27 participated online. Seven buyers won one or more tracts. The eight parcels varied substantially in size, land use, conservation enrollment, access and improvements, so the overall average should not be read as a price for every acre or tract.
Who bought the tillable tracts?
Peoples Company representative Matt Adams, who was in charge of the auction, said investors bought three of the four tillable tracts; a local farmer bought the fourth. Adams said, “Normally we have one person who buys all the tillable acres,” and, “Three of our four tillable tracts were bought by investors, not farmers.”
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Adams described the buyer mix at this sale as including farmers and investors. As reported by Successful Farming, one investor had proceeds from a 1031 exchange to reinvest, two investors planned to lease land to farming family members, and another buyer already owned adjoining land and wanted to expand. These are explanations for this auction, not evidence of a market-wide cause.
How did the eight tracts differ?
Successful Farming reported the following tract details. Acreage labels are not interchangeable: FSA tillable acres, FSA cropland, farmed acres, pasture and CRP-enrolled acres describe different categories. Prices per acre also reflect differing parcel uses and features.
| Tract | Reported acreage and land use | Reported sale price | Reported features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80 total; 74.83 FSA tillable | $12,700 per acre | CSR2 87.5; NHEL; drainage tile; 2025 lease with estimated $22,275 rent credit. Buyer planned to lease it. |
| 2 | 120 total; 117.43 FSA tillable | $12,100 per acre | CSR2 82.3; NHEL; drainage tile; 2025 lease with estimated $35,229 rent credit. Buyer planned to lease it to a farming family member. |
| 3 | 76.89 total; 73.36 FSA tillable, with farmed and pasture acres also distinguished in the report | $12,700 per acre | CSR2 88.2; NHEL; drainage tile; 10.6 CRP Farmable Wetland acres, with a reported $3,686 annual payment and contract expiration in September 2026. Investor planned to lease it to a family member. |
| 4 | 65.4 total; 59.80 FSA cropland | $11,100 per acre | CSR2 82.2; HEL; waterway and grass buffer strips. Buyer was a local farmer. |
| 5 | 135.42 total; 92 FSA cropland | $7,000 per acre | CSR2 79; HEL; 92 acres enrolled in three CRP programs, with contracts expiring in September 2026 or September 2032; creek and cement crossing. Buyer was described as a local part-time farmer and investor. |
| 6 | 27.55 total; 13.6 FSA cropland | $10,300 per acre | CSR2 68.2; HEL; 13.6 pollinator-habitat acres with a reported $3,895 annual payment and September 2026 expiration; access to the North Raccoon River. |
| 7 | 22.59 total; 3 FSA cropland | $10,300 per acre | CSR2 77.9; 3 pollinator-habitat acres with a reported $860 annual payment and September 2026 expiration; no rural water provider was noted. |
| 8 | 3.11 acres | $73,000 for the whole tract | Older farm site with a home and several outbuildings, including grain bins, barns, a steel building and a machine shed. |
How does the sale compare with Iowa land values?
Successful Farming cited the 2024 Iowa State University Land Value Survey’s statewide average of $11,467 per acre, down 3.1% ($369 per acre) from 2023. The Greene County auction’s $10,750-per-acre average is below that survey figure, but the two numbers are not directly equivalent: one is an average from a particular auction of mixed tracts, while the other is a statewide survey measure.
The same article reported the survey’s buyer categories: 70% existing farmers (68% local and 2% relocating), 4% new farmers, 23% investors (12% local and 11% non-local), and 3% other purchasers. Those survey figures provide broader context, but they do not change what happened among the buyers at this single auction.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallSuccessful Farming also summarized a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago AgLetter released in February 2025. Responding bankers expected farm real-estate loan volumes in Iowa and four neighboring states to be lower in the first quarter of 2025 than in the same quarter of 2024, while land-value expectations were mixed. Those were expectations reported at the time, not observed current conditions.
Why was the land sold, and what was its prior use?
Successful Farming reported that Coleen M. Janssen died in September 2024 and left the property to more than 20 family members, who decided to sell. The same local family had leased the land since 1979. Jerome Monahan said his parents began farming it and he took over in 1987; he described their crop-share arrangement as splitting input expenses and crop earnings equally.
Adams characterized three tracts as selling “phenomenally well” and said, “There is not as much irrational exuberance in the farm space.” Those comments reflect his interpretation of this auction, rather than an independently established explanation for farmland prices generally.
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