Dennis Reyman A farm manager and appraiser with Stalcup Agriculture, in Storm Lake.

STORM LAKE – Dennis Reyman, a farm manager and appraiser with Stalcup Agriculture, in Storm Lake, said Monday’s agland value report was not a surprise to the majority of rural lands owners.

He noted the variations shown in the survey between poor and good farmland with the latter holding on to its value.

Reyman works closely with farmers in northwest Iowa and adjacent areas.

“I think farmers were pretty much expecting the results and have already programmed it into their thinking,” he said. “They’d looked for the prices to soften with the drop in corn and bean prices and looking ahead in time for sustained improvement when grain prices come up.”

His advice to producers is that they don’t get excited.

“If you look at the records, viewed long term, you see it improves over time,” Reyman said. “We have to remember that a lot of farm land was sold a few years ago when commodity prices were high like the $7 corn.

“What we’re seeing today is what I’d consider an average amount of sales mainly those from estate settlements rather than those due to the high land prices of the past.”