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A 35.51-acre tillable tract near Orange City sold for $32,000 per acre at auction on Dec. 1, 2025. Iowa Appraisal’s Jim Rothermich called it the highest Iowa auction price in the land sales he tracks. That makes it a notable auction record—not a typical value for Iowa farmland or even for Sioux County.
What sold and what the record means
The tract was near Orange City in Sioux County, in northwest Iowa. The auction-results listing gives its size as 35.51 acres; reporting described it as about 35.5 acres of tillable land. It sold on Dec. 1, 2025, for $32,000 per acre.
The record claim needs a precise scope. Rothermich told Pro Farmer that he tracks Iowa land auctions and that this was the highest price in his data. The previous tracked high was $30,000 per acre, also in Sioux County, in November 2022. The available reporting does not establish that the sale set a record across every private land transaction in Iowa.
Pro Farmer quoted Rothermich: “As far as my data goes, I keep track of all the land auctions in Iowa, that’s the highest.” His attribution matters: this is a record in his tracked auction data, not a statewide official registry of all sales.
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Why a buyer might pay an exceptional price
Reporting points to Sioux County’s livestock and dairy economy as relevant context. Livestock operations need crop production for feed and land on which to apply animal waste. The winning bidder was reported to be a farmer whose existing operation could use the tract, which may have made this particular parcel especially valuable to that buyer.
Those factors help explain why local bidding can be unusually strong, but they do not prove why the final bid reached $32,000 per acre or quantify the contribution of any one factor. The available sources do not provide enough detail to adjust the price for all land-quality, legal, or operational characteristics.
How the sale compares with reported averages
A single auction price and an estimated county or statewide average measure different things. The auction reflects competition for one tract on one date; survey averages combine many respondents’ assessments and are not sale prices for that parcel.
| Measure | Reported value | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Sioux County auction | $32,000 per acre | One 35.51-acre tillable tract near Orange City, sold Dec. 1, 2025; record in Jim Rothermich’s tracked Iowa auction data, as reported by Pro Farmer. |
| Sioux County average, 2025 | $15,983 per acre | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county-average farmland value for 2025. |
| Sioux County average, 2024 | $15,617 per acre | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county-average farmland value for 2024. |
| Iowa statewide estimate, 2025 | $11,549 per acre | Statewide average estimate from Iowa State University’s 2025 Land Value Survey, reported by Agriculture.com as of Nov. 1, 2025. |
The $32,000 auction result was roughly twice the 2025 Sioux County average, but the figures should not be treated as directly interchangeable: one is a specific auction outcome, while the others are survey-based averages. Land quality, tillable share, local demand, and fit with an existing farm operation can all matter when comparing individual parcels.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallLater Sioux County auction results
Iowa Land Company’s rolling results page lists two Sioux County sales dated Sept. 30, 2026, at $25,500 and $23,000 per acre. The page displays a mean of $21,424 per acre for its disclosed 2026 Sioux County sales. These later results are below the December 2025 price, but they do not erase the auction record described by Rothermich: they are separate sales, and the company’s page is not a complete official registry of every Iowa transaction.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the price does—and does not—tell a landowner
The result is useful evidence that a particular tract attracted exceptional bidding in a county with strong livestock and dairy demand. It is not, by itself, a reliable estimate of what another farm would sell for. A meaningful comparison would need to account for the parcel’s location, soil and productivity, tillable acreage, improvements, legal conditions, access, and whether nearby operators have a specific use for it.
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The reporting does not establish a county-recorded deed, full legal-acreage reconciliation, financing terms, or a verified purchaser identity. It therefore does not support naming the buyer or treating a reported operational fit as a confirmed explanation of the price.
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- Book - finding good farmland: how to evaluate and acquire land for raising crops and animals. A storey basics title
Sources
- Iowa Land Company: Sioux County, Iowa farmland prices and auction results
- Pro Farmer: Record-Breaking Sale— Iowa Farmland Sets New High for State at $32,000 Per Acre
- Agriculture.com: Iowa Farmland Sale Hits Record $32,000 Per Acre in Sioux County
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach: Iowa Average Land Values by County
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