A 76.56-acre farm southwest of Hull in Sioux County, Iowa, sold at auction shortly before Christmas 2024 for $2,047,980, or $26,750 per acre. The farm was divided into two 38.28-acre tracts, and one farmer bought both. According to Successful Farming, which reported the sale on February 12, 2025, the auction agent pointed to high soil ratings, flat fields with half-mile rows, and a good drainage tile system. The buyer already owned land a few miles away and planned to farm this property himself.
Those features explain a good part of the price. They do not make $26,750 an acre a typical Iowa number. This was one high-quality parcel sold at one auction, and the figures below show how far it sat above the averages for its county and state.
The sale at a glance
- Property: 76.56 acres southwest of Hull, Sioux County, Iowa
- Auction timing: two days before Christmas 2024
- Total price: $2,047,980
- Price per acre: $26,750 (the figure the report gives for the whole farm)
- Structure: two 38.28-acre tracts, both bought by one farmer
- Opening bid: $17,000 per acre
- Combined real estate tax: $2,876 for both tracts, attributed to the Sioux County Treasurer (the report does not state the tax year)
What the buyer was paying for
The report attributes the strong price to several specific characteristics of the land. Each one affects what a farm produces and what it costs to operate, which is why they matter if you are comparing this sale with another parcel.
Soil productivity
Iowa uses corn suitability ratings, often written as CSR, to rank soil productivity. The report cites a CSR2 range of 94.3 to 95.5 for the property. The agent described this as a broad range that reflects the whole farm. CSR1 is the older version of the rating, and the report lists the tract-level figures on that scale. Keep the two labels separate when comparing parcels, because the numbers are not interchangeable.
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Field layout and drainage
The report describes the ground as flat, with half-mile rows and a good drainage tile system. Long, flat rows reduce the time spent turning equipment and make field operations more efficient. A working tile system affects how quickly fields dry out after heavy rain and how reliably they can be planted and harvested. The report does not quantify the drainage system’s condition, age, or the cost of maintaining it.
Yield estimate
The agent gave a corn yield range of 220 to 280 bushels per acre. That is his estimate as reported, not a measured result or a guarantee for any future crop.
Tract-level details
Both tracts share nearly identical acreage and soil characteristics. The remaining 0.48 acres in each tract is road and ditch, according to the report.
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| Item | Tract 1 | Tract 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Total acres | 38.28 | 38.28 |
| Tillable acres | 37.8 | 37.8 |
| CSR1 rating | 70.8 | 71.4 |
| Erodibility classification | Non-highly erodible land | Non-highly erodible land |
How the bidding unfolded
Zomer Company Realty and Auction ran the sale. Co-owner Mark Zomer told the publication that bidding opened at $17,000 per acre and climbed quickly to the final price. The report says four local farmers and one investor from outside the area were active bidders.
Zomer also estimated attendance: about 1,000 people watched online, and 50 to 60 attended in person. These are his estimates as reported, not verified counts.
Price against the market
The sale was well above every benchmark the report cites. The table compares it with local auction results and the most recent averages in the report.
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| Benchmark | Price per acre | Source and scope |
|---|---|---|
| This sale (Sioux County, December 2024) | $26,750 | Single auction of one 76.56-acre farm, as reported by Successful Farming |
| Earlier 2024 sale in the area | $29,600 | One specific auction, as mentioned in the report |
| Similar high-quality farm about a mile away | $23,400 | Comparison cited by the agent, not a county-wide figure |
| Sioux County average | $15,617 | Iowa State University 2024 Land Value Survey, as reported by Successful Farming |
| Iowa average, November 2024 | $11,467 | Iowa State University 2024 Land Value Survey, as reported by Successful Farming; down 3.1% (about $369 per acre) from November 2023 |
Measured against those averages, the sale price was about 71% above the Sioux County average and about 2.3 times the statewide average. The gap reflects the land’s quality and the competitive auction setting, not a shift in the typical Iowa farm.
Regional market direction
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported no year-over-year change in regional agricultural land values in the third quarter of 2024. That figure covers a broader region and is not a Sioux County measure. In its survey of respondents for the fourth quarter of 2024, 34% expected lower farmland values and 2% expected higher values at year end, according to the report.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.“Not up, based on the respondents to our survey.” David Oppedahl, on the survey’s expectations for values.
Easements that run with the land
The report says the land was subject to a Dakota Access Pipeline easement. It also says the sellers had signed an easement with Summit Carbon Solutions, and the buyers took the property subject to both.
Jennifer Harrington, staff attorney at Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, explained that easements are part of the land record and stay with a property when it changes hands. She said Summit easements were privately negotiated case by case, and that recorded documents may not show the complete agreement or payment terms.
“They want to make sure that when a sale happens, they still have the right to be there.” Jennifer Harrington, on why easement holders keep their rights after a sale.
For any parcel with pipeline or carbon-pipeline easements, the report’s description is a starting point, not a substitute for the documents themselves. A buyer should:
- Order a current title commitment and read every recorded easement listed in it.
- Ask for the full easement agreements, including any payment, access, and restoration terms that a recorded summary may omit.
- Have a real estate attorney review the easement obligations before making an offer.
- Confirm how the easements affect tillable acreage, drainage work, and future field operations.
Using this sale as a benchmark
A single auction result is useful for one question: what a specific, high-rated parcel with clean field lines and a working drainage system brought in one competitive sale. It is a weak guide to what an average Sioux County or Iowa farm would sell for, and the report does not establish current values for this parcel or for the state.
The most recent figures in this account date from late 2024 and early 2025, so they are close to two years old as of this writing. The account also rests on one news report. The deed, the auction contract, the Iowa State survey itself, and the full easement agreements were not reviewed for this article, so treat the numbers as reported figures rather than verified records.
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