Blogs

ASFMRA AgNews - September 3, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 12 days ago
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Protecting Farmers in the Path of Hurricane Dorian When major disasters strike, USDA has an emergency loan program that provides eligible farmers low-interest loans to help them recover from production and physical losses. USDA also offers additional programs tailored to the needs of specific agricultural sectors to help producers weather the financial impacts of major disasters and rebuild their operations.  Read the Full Story. FDIC Approves Increase in Residential Appraisal Threshold The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors approved the final rule titled “Increase the Appraisal Threshold for Residential Real Estate ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - August 20, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 27 days ago
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Machinery Cost Estimates for 2019 Estimated machinery costs often are used to set custom rates when one individual performs a field operation for another individual.  We provide machinery cost estimates which may be useful in setting custom rates.  An additional amount for profit should be added to our cost estimates, as we have not added an amount for returns. Read More Here Women Are Big Part of AgTech Generation Innovation It would be overly simplistic to state that this is a tough time for growers in the U.S. The number of farms and ranches continues to decline, with a growing number of farms being sold off as farmers are faced with the rising ...
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USDA Publishes 2019 Land Value Averages

By ASFMRA Press posted 08-13-2019
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The United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service published its 2019 state-by-state and national averages for the value of farmland, cropland and pasture. You can  view its entire report here
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ASFMRA AgNews - August 8, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 08-08-2019
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9 Things Every Landowner Must Do Before Renting Land It’s almost time for farmers and landlords to begin negotiating their leases for the 2020 growing season. With 40% of U.S. farmland rented, this market is worth $32 billion. As you begin to consider the next growing season, you have the opportunity to make adjustments and gain new insight into the health of your land. To help you make the most of this time leading up to farmland lease termination dates, here are nine things you need to address ahead of the 2020 growing season: Read More Here. California Farmers are Planting Solar Panels as Water Supplies Dry Up Jon Reiter banked the four-seat ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - July 30, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 07-29-2019
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Report Shows 2019 Crop Continues to Lag Cooperative fall weather is always important to Upper Midwest farmers. It will be especially important this year, with most area crops still far behind their normal development. The weekly crop progress report, released July 22 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found that the maturity of area crops, especially corn and soybeans, continues to lag their five-year averages. Will Lag Continue? China To Allow Some Buys of U.S. Corn, Cotton and Pork Tariff-Free Bloomberg reports the Chinese government has approved several of its companies to buy U.S. corn, ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - July 24, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 07-23-2019
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USMCA Advocacy If you’re interested in contacting your representatives in the House of Representatives and Senate regarding the impact on agriculture of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), you may wish to use   this template  endorsing its ratification.   No matter your position, you can find contact information for your House representative  here , and for your state’s Senators  here . Selling Land to Reduce Debt? Consider an Opportunity Zone Fund For years, farmers have used the tax strategy of Section 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchanges (also known as like-kind exchanges). It can be a great option to defer the gain on the ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - July 18, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 07-18-2019
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USDA Crop Progress Report Grades Corn Condition Slightly Better The U.S. corn and soybean crops made slight improvements vs. a week ago, but remain behind five-year averages for silking and emergence, according to the USDA’s weekly Crop Progress Report released Monday. The overall condition of the corn crop is rated at 58% good to excellent in the top 18 corn producing states, compared with 57% a week ago. USDA pegged just 17% of the corn crop was in the silk stage, compared with a 42% five-year average. As of Sunday, Illinois had just 19% of its corn crop in the silk growth stage, Indiana 10% and Iowa 8%. 110˚F Weather To Take Toll on Late-Planted ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - July 9, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 07-09-2019
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Perspectives on Corn Belt Farmland Values An update last month from Iowa State University (ISU) Extension’s Wendong Zhang and Steven Johnson (“Agricultural professionals expect lower land values and stable crop prices“) stated that, “Over 270 agricultural professionals attended the 2019 ISU Soil Management Land Valuation (SMLV) Conference this past May…Over 150 participants provided their estimates of future land values as well as future cash corn and soybean prices in their primary county in Iowa via an online Qualtrics survey. Where Will Values Go? On the Edge: Farmland Values Treading Water The future of the farmland market continues to be ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - July 2, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 07-02-2019
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Corn Acres May Not Fall As Much As Forecast USDA's last Crop Progress report shows 92% of corn is now planted and 77% of soybeans. Farmers from across the midwest are weighing in on those numbers asking what 92% really means. During an interview with AgDay's Clinton Griffiths, Sam Hudson of Cornbelt Marketing stressing that planted acres are an unknown. "Well until we see an actual printed number from USDA you almost have to focus on just the production potential in general," says Hudson. "As opposed to [here's] what I think acres are and that's where I think yield could be." What Will Happen to Corn Acres? Arlan Suderman: USDA Should Have Never ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - June 24, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 06-24-2019
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USDA To Allow Farmers To Harvest Prevent Plant Cover Crops Sept. 1 As the growing season marches on and farmers are expected to file prevent plant claims on a record number of acres, USDA is easing cover crop harvest rules to ensure livestock producers have adequate feed supplies. In 2019, farmers who planted cover crops on prevent plant acres will be permitted to hay, graze or chop those fields on Sept. 1 instead of Nov. 1. “We recognize farmers were greatly impacted by some of the unprecedented flooding and excessive rain this spring and we made this one-year adjustment to help farmers with the tough decisions they are facing this year,” said USDA undersecretary ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - June 18, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 06-17-2019
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On the Edge: Farmland Values Treading Water … for Now The future of the farmland market continues to be a guessing game. So far, values have been supported by low interested rates and a strong buyer pool for limited land for sale. But numerous financial metrics point to a deterioration of farmers’ financial health, according to a semi-annual market update from Farmers National Company. “As 2019 unfolds, the land market will remain on edge watching farm finances, weather, and trade issues,” says Randy Dickhut, senior vice president of real estate operations for Farmers National. “The outcome of these and other unknowns will guide which direction land values ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - June 11, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 06-11-2019
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Rules for Planting Cover Crops or Second Crops with Prevent Plant A recent Farm Journal Pulse indicates that about one-third of U.S. farmers will take prevent plant this season. With the potential for millions of acres to be barren you might be wondering what you can do to prevent erosion or provide feed opportunities for cattle. Know the rules before you drop a seed into the ground after prevent plant. This is one area with no “gray” area, according to Cara Riekhof, agent with Crop Insurance Solutions, Inc., in Higginsville, Mo. Get to Know the Rules. Hot Springs Hemp Company First to Secure Farming in Arkansas New Age Hemp LLC of Hot Springs ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - June 4, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 06-04-2019
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12 Great Plains Bankers Share Economic Insights Farm income and agricultural credit conditions continue to deteriorate, according to the latest Ag Credit Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “With low income weighing on farm finances, the pace of decline in farm loan repayment rates increased slightly,” write Nathan Kauffman, vice president and Omaha branch executive, and Ty Kreitman, assistant economist, for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “In addition, carry-over debt increased again for many borrowers and bankers continued to restructure debt and deny a modest amount of new loan requests due to cash flow shortages.” Read what ...
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New ASFMRA Textbook Updates Appraisal Methods

By ASFMRA Press posted 05-30-2019
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The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers® (ASFMRA®) released their new textbook, Valuing Rural America: Foundations of Data Analysis. This new textbook expands and updates methodology for appraisers of all career stages and experience levels and takes the body of knowledge in rural appraising to a new level. Chief writer, Justin Bierschwale, ARA, MAI explained, “Most of the published literature in the appraisal profession deals with urban appraisal topics. Few resources address rural property appraisal, and those that have been published really focus on production agriculture.” Today’s appraisers also deal with mountain and recreational land ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - May 29, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 05-29-2019
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Experts: SGMA Begins to Affect Land Values By now one would suspect that the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is “old news,” something that is firmly ensconced in the minds of farmers and real estate investors as the first of several deadlines loom. Nevertheless, I understand from rural appraisers attending the recent Outlook Conference – the annual meeting of the California chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers – that SGMA was apparently not on the minds of everyone considering a farm real estate transaction last year. Each year the California chapter publishes its Trends Report, a synopsis of farm ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - May 21, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 05-20-2019
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6 Drivers Keeping the Farmland Market Steady Doug Hensley, president of real estate services with Hertz farm management, recently talked with Chip Flory on AgriTalk and gave an overall update on the farmland market. Hensley gives six drivers keeping the farmland market firm despite so much uncertainty in ag. Annual numbers are a better barometer than quarterly surveys. “I really look at the annual numbers maybe a little more closely,” Hensely says. “With the quarterly numbers, it’s a survey of people’s attitudes one sale to the next which can really influence things.” He continues to say that looking from April 2018 to April 2019, the farmland market ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - May 14, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 05-13-2019
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Land Values in Florida Rock Solid In March, Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Real Estate hosted its annual Lay of the Land Conference in Orlando. Each year during the conference, Dean Saunders, founder of the Lakeland-based company, releases his “Lay of the Land Report,” which provides property values based upon verified sales for the previous year. Florida’s land market values remained strong in 2018, bolstered by the nearly 1,000 people moving into the state daily and an unemployment rate below 4%. He noted the strong economy and no state income tax is a big draw. People want jobs, water, and sunshine. “The rising tide of our growing population floats ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - May 7, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 05-06-2019
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Farmland Values Continue to Rise in Canada Average farmland values in Canada continue to rise according to Canada's lead agricultural lender. Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) 2018 Farmland Values Report shows the average value of Canadian farmland increased 6.6 per cent in 2018, following gains of 8.4 per cent in 2017 and 7.9 per cent in 2016. Alberta saw a 7.4 per cent increase in the value of its farm acres, which FCC says is a relativity stable trend considering the 7.3 per cent increase in 2017. However, Southern Alberta saw the highest increase in value compared to other regions of the Province with a 12.7 per cent jump. FCC says there was strong demand ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - April 30, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 04-29-2019
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What Could Dampen Farmland Values? A laundry list of factors can support or sink farmland values. In the past few years, values have been surprisingly resilient. Looking forward, however, prices may lean lower, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 2018, the spread between returns to farmland owners and benchmark interest rates narrowed to its lowest level in more than a decade in the Tenth Federal Reserve District. At the same time, farmland sales increased in some states for the first time in several years. “Together, the reduced spread and indications of increased sales in some regions suggest the potential for ...
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ASFMRA AgNews - April 23, 2019

By ASFMRA Press posted 04-22-2019
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Floods' Impact on Land Values Floods Affect Specific Farm Values, but not Overall Trend Farmers and ranchers hit by March's flooding and blizzard are still trying to assess their damage. Land values will be affected, but only specific to the property and its damage. "In 1993 flooding on the Mississippi, I had a friend who farmed near a levee that broke and he had 30 acres of sand dumped on his property. With a trackhoe and bulldozer, he got some of it off, but some just became wasteland," recalled Randy Dickhut, senior vice president with Farmers National Company in Omaha. How did the floods affect farmland? Ag Census:  Farmland Receding in California ...
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