Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers

ISPFMRA

Two Courses Offered at Land Values Conference

by Leave a Comment

Join us for two courses we’re offering alongside the Land Values Conference in March. These courses are sponsored by the Illinois REALTORS® in conjunction with the Heartland Association of REALTORS®, the Illinois Chapter of the REALTORS® Institute, and the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

Registration for these activities is separate from and DOES NOT include registration for the Illinois Land Values Conference. (You can register for the conference here.)

Property Taxes in Illinois — 3-Hour Course, Elective, Course ID # FI 1103 (RLI Approval Code 2018-190)
Time: 9 a.m. – Noon (Registration 8:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.)
Instructor: Norm Willoughby — License # 563-001630

DESCRIPTION: This course is an introduction to the basic principles and concepts of the Illinois property tax system. Property taxes in Illinois are the major source of revenues for local units of government, schools, and local taxing bodies and districts. Over the past 30 years, property taxes have become a major expense for property owners and can be an obstacle to ownership. The property tax system in Illinois is confusing, cumbersome and intimidating to most citizens. The purpose of this course is to give real estate agents a better understanding of the system and provide a simple approach to the basics of property taxes. The agent should then be able to better explain and provide information to their clients, when assisting them in a real estate transaction.

Register for Property Taxes in Illinois here.

Brokerage/Farm Management — 3-Hour Course, Elective, Course ID # FM 802 (RLI Approval Pending)
Time: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Norm Willoughby — License # 563-001630

DESCRIPTION: This course is an introduction to the basic principles and concepts involved in farm brokerage and farm property management. The course will cover the issues of farm brokerage in listing and selling farm properties, including an open discussion of productivity, lease termination, government programs, recreational opportunities, tax issues, market trends and more. In addition, this course will provide a current discussion of market trends, types of farm leases, protection of the land owner’s assets and more. The purpose is to provide real estate licensees a better understanding of farm brokerage and farm management in an interactive format. Like other real estate niches, farm brokerage can be rewarding, but nuanced, and the licensee must have the expertise to best represent their clients.

Register for Brokerage/Farm Management here.

Register Now! 2019 Land Values Conference

by Leave a Comment

8 a.m. – Noon, Thursday, March 21, 2019

DoubleTree by Hilton, Bloomington, IL

Register Here

David Widmar – The Farm Economy in 2019 – How We Got Here & What Lies Ahead

The session will review the U.S. agricultural economy and key trends to monitor in 2019. He will focus on the impacts and trends that relate to farmland values and returns.

David Widmar is an agricultural economist specializing in agricultural trends and the farm economy. Through his research, he supports agribusinesses and farmers in their strategic and planning efforts. His work has been featured in several agricultural media publications, university publications, webinars, and conferences. David’s current writings can be found at Agricultural Economic Insights, www.AgEconomists.com, where he contributes with co-founder Dr. Brent Gloy.

Brad Haight – Wind and Solar Lease Revenue Stream Analysis

A discussion regarding compensation elements and structures and revenue valuation analysis considering the property, lease, market, and project.

Brad Haight is the founder of LeaseGen, LLC which values wind and solar lease revenue streams for buyers and sellers of property where turbines or solar equipment are installed. LeaseGen also helps owners structure the economic provisions of their wind and solar leases,with a focus on long-term value creation.

Panel Discussion – Illinois Farmland Values and Lease Trends

A down-on-the-farm, localized look at what is driving farmland prices and rent rates from four ISPFMRA farm managers and appraisers representing different regions of the state.

Todd Slock, Compeer Financial, Region 2

Luke Worrell, AFM, ALC, Worrell Land Services, Region 7

Bruce Huber, AFM, ARA, First Illinois Ag Group, Region 6

Dale Kellermann, AFM, First Illinois Ag Group, Region 8

Joe Gizdic, Whitetail Properties Real Estate, LLC, Region 3

Report Summary and Overview
A summary discussion of the overall 2019 Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends Report

David Klein, AFM, ALC
Vice President, Managing Broker, and Agricultural Asset Manager, First Mid Ag Services

Dr. Gary Schnitkey —
Farm Management Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois

Plus — everyone attending receives a copy of the 2019 Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends Report.

Registration is OPEN NOW!!

$70 for ISPFMRA / RLI Members

$85 for non-members

Advance registration is recommended but not required. Register here.

A block of sleeping rooms has been set aside at the Doubletree by Hilton. Rates for the Land Values Conference is $120 per night. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel directly at 309-664-6446. The room block is in the name of Illinois Society of Farm Managers. Lodging reservations must be made by February 26, 2019.

CE Credit Note: Attendance at the full program qualifies for 4 hours of ASFMRA CE and 4 hours of Appraisal CE for Illinoiis and Indiana for Thursday, March 21, 2019.

Get Ahead of the Game! Register Now for the ISPFMRA Annual Meeting

by Leave a Comment

Our annual meeting is set for February 7, 2019, at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel! We hope you’ll make plans to join us.

Being successful and staying ahead of the game means you have to develop, hone, and maintain your competitive edge. We are in a challenging time in Midwest and Illinois agriculture. Technology is changing. Government rules are changing. Your customers are changing.

This year’s ISPFMRA annual meeting will provide the tools you need to maintain your competitive edge. Some subjects and speakers may be a little controversial and you may not like all that you hear. But it will help you hone your competitve edge.

See you there?

The registration deadline for reserving a hotel room at our discounted rate for the upcoming ISPFMRA Annual Meeting HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO END OF THE WORKDAY ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 11.

Rooms may be available after that date but there is no guarantee that you will be given the discounted rate as is listed on the registration form.

Download the full program.

See the agenda here and register online here.

 

ISPFMRA Scholarship Applications Are Now Open

by Leave a Comment

Are you graduating from a community college and transferring to one of the four in-state agriculture universities (Illinois State, Southern Illinois, University of Illinois, or Western Illinois) to pursue a bachelor of science degree in agriculture? Are you interested in a career in farm management, rural appraisal, or rural consulting? Apply for our ISPFMRA scholarship for community college transfer students!

Get all the information and an application with this link:

ISPFMRA Scholarship Program.pdf

Values Trend “Slightly Lower” During 1st Half of Year 

by Leave a Comment

(Boone, IA, August 29, 2018) – Prices paid for Illinois farmland continued the “slightly lower” trend according to the Mid-Year Snapshot Survey completed by the Illinois Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The survey results were released at the 2018 Farm Progress Show.

(Key details here.)

“In the first half of the year the value of Excellent quality farmland is down two percent and Average quality land is down one percent ,” says David Klein, AFM, ALC, Soy Capital Ag Services, Bloomington, IL., and overall chair of the Farmland Values program sponsored by the Society. “According to our member survey, prices being paid for Good and Fair quality land prices are very similar from the beginning of the year.”

Klein notes that the survey results indicated the state-wide average price for Excellent quality land by mid-year dropped roughly $200 per acre to $10,522 from the beginning of 2018.  Survey results indicated prices for other land classes were estimated to be down less than $100 per acre respectively.

“Our survey somewhat confirms the survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released earlier this month, which showed prices level to  lightly higher in the first half of 2018, and is an indication of both the somewhat level nature of prices paid, and regional bias of each group’s respondents”, says Klein.  “Location and local ownership continues to be a major factor in the strength or weakness of many areas”.

This is happening when fewer acres are changing hands, and majority of respondents expect that to remain the case into the last half of 2018.

Cash Rents to Nudge Lower

University of Illinois’ Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D. who coordinates the survey, indicated respondents expect cash rents to also trend slightly lower, depending on soil classifications.

Excellent — $305 per acre to $290

Good — $265 per acre to $250

Average — $220 per acre to $ 210

Fair — $185 per acre to $175

The type of rental agreements are varied and split into these primary categories:

Share Rent leases – 31 %

Modified Share Rent leases – 13%

Cash Rent leases – 30%

Variable Cash Rent leases – 21%

Custom Farming – 5%

The Mid-Year Snapshot Survey is conducted each year in July as an addenda to the much more comprehensive annual Land Values and Lease Trends Survey, also sponsored by the Society. The results of the year-end 2018 Survey will be released at the 2019 Illinois Land Values Conference which will be held March 21 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington, IL.

Note: In the above release, reference is made to different qualities of farmland.  In a normal year, Excellent quality farmland averages over 200 bushels of corn per acre with a soil productivity index of 133 or higher, Good quality farmland averages between 170 and 200 bushels per acre with a soil productivity index of 117-132, Average quality farmland averages between 150 and 170 bushels per acre with a soil productivity index of 100-116 and no irrigation, and Fair quality farmland averages below 150 bushels per acre with a soil productivity index under 100 without irrigation.

 

Contacts

David Klein, General Chair

Vice President & Managing Broker

Soy Capital Ag Services

6 Heartland Drive

Bloomington, IL 61704

309-261-3117

dklein@soybank.com

 

Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D.

University of Illinois

300a Mumford Hall

1301 West Gregory Drive

Urbana, IL 61801

217-244-9595

schnitke@uiuc.edu

Little Change in Illinois Farmland Values (Download the report!)

by Leave a Comment

Update: our 2018 report is now available as a free download!

(Bloomington, IL, March 22) Prices being paid for high quality Illinois farmland, as well as cash rents have stayed essentially flat for the past 12 months according to the 2018 Illinois Farmland Values and Lease Trends Report released today by the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers at the Illinois Land Values Conference held here. The Report is based on an annual survey of the Society’s members and others allied to the industry and reflects activity from 2017.

Download our 2018 Farmland Values & Lease Trends Report Summary Presentation.

Factors Impacting Future Farmland Values
Regions 1-3
Regions 4 and 7
Regions 5 and 6
Regions 8-10

“The news is there is isn’t much new regarding land values or changes in rents being paid for farmland,” says David Klein, AFM, ALC, with Soy Capital Ag Services and overall chair of the annual Land Values project sponsored by the Society. “Prices paid for Excellent quality farmland across the northern part of the state were down 1-2 percent with ranges from $10,500 to $11,000 per acre across the various regions of the state. That same type of land in the central part of the state was going at $10,350 to $11,400 per acre in the past year. This was flat-to-down 5 percent in certain areas.

“In the southern regions of the state there was really no movement at all in terms of drops or increases in prices for land. It was going from $8,000 to $10,885 per acre in the same areas as it was a year ago,” he explained.

A similar trend was true of cash rents being paid for the same Excellent quality farmland. “Projected rents remained relatively steady all across the state,” he said. Rent prices ranged from $295 to $325 per acre in the northern part of the state; $300 to $350 per acre for the central region, and; $160 to $325 in the southern counties.

Klein notes the statewide average prices being paid for Excellent farmland have dropped from their peak of approximately $12,500 per acre in 2013. “Comparatively, though, the average price paid for this same farmland in 2002, 15 years ago, was a little over $3,400 per acre,” he noted.

Some Things Don’t Change

Klein says the profile of the buyers of farmland has not changed in many years with farmers accounting for 62 percent of that group. “They know the value as well as, if not better than, anyone else and they are reinvesting into their own farm businesses. Investors, local and otherwise, are the second largest group of buyers accounting for 23 percent of the sales.

“Estate sales still lead the way as the greatest reason for a property to come on the market,” he explains. Private treaty is still the most popular way of selling land (49 percent) followed by public auction (35 percent). “It’s interesting to note how little this changes with time,” Klein adds. “In 2003 our report indicated that private treaty accounted for 50 percent of sales and public auction was at 32 percent.” As with rent rates, prices being paid for the land are based primarily on commodity prices. “It’s one of the ironies of agriculture – often the higher the soil productivity, the lower the cash return. But this also often carries with it lower risk, and improved asset price stability,” he says. “Our surveyed members believe the primary factor that could cause a drop in farmland prices of more than 5 percent would be falling commodity prices because of good growing condition in the United States.” He notes, however, that an increase in interest rates could also impact demand, and cause prices to drop. “Keep an eye on grain prices, interest rates, and governmental policy changes over the next 12-24 months for further direction in where the farmland market may be headed. What feels like a market that should be getting softer, may not happen because of general economic reasons. Conversely, there may be some real opportunities for investors to purchase productive land that could use some improvements during moments of uncertainty.” Klein says.

Rent Rates Staying the Same

For Excellent quality farmland, traditional crop shares had average income of $193 per acre, cash rent had $230 per acre, and custom farming had $253 per acre, says Dr. Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois Department of Ag and Consumer Economics. Across all productivities, a straight crop share lease had the lowest returns. Cash rent and custom farming had returns near one another for the Good, Average, and Fair land classes.

There is a great deal of variability in cash rents for a given land productivity, he notes. “For example, the average cash rent for the mid 1/3 group on Excellent quality farmland is $298 per acre. The high 1/3 of leases averaged $317 per acre, $19 higher than the mid 1/3 group. Similarly, the low 1/3 group averaged $258 per acre, $40 lower than the mid 1/3 group. From the high 1/3 group to the low 1/3 group, there is a $59 per acre difference in average rents for Excellent productivity farmland. Similar ranges exist across Good ($53 from the high 1/3 to low 1/3 averages), Average ($49 per acre), and Fair ($50 per acre) productivity classes.

“Fifty-eight percent of respondents expected 2019 cash rents to remain the same as 2018 cash rents,” he explains.

The complete 2018 Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends Report is available for purchase in hard copy. The 124-page document includes region-by-region farmland sales data and also features year-over-year trend lines with numbers of properties sold, sales prices and median sales price data.

The ISPFMRA is one of 37 chapters of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The Illinois chapter, now celebrating its 90th year, is the oldest and largest state organization of its kind in the United States. Members are professionals devoted to the management and appraisal of rural property and agricultural consulting.

Join the 2018 ISPFMRA Summer Tour!

by Leave a Comment

Join your colleagues for a very full day and a-half of touring, learning, gabbing and just plain having a good time in the Decatur/Assumption/Pano area on August 9-10.  You can register and pay online using the form at the bottom of this page. Or you can print the PDF version of our agenda and registration form and mail us a check.

 

2018 ISPFMRA Summer Tour Agenda

Thursday, August 9

(All tour activities will begin and end at the Decatur Conference Center, 4191 US Hwy 36 West, Decatur, IL)

• Ingram’s Soil Testing Lab, Sullivan, IL

Ingram’s Soil Testing Center has been providing quality soil sampling and testing services to clients in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri since 1979. Their services include taking GPS soil samples, testing soil for nutrients, creating field map books and fertilizer spread maps. Introduction of the Global Positioning System during the early 1990’s allowed to ISTC to expand the business to include quality GPS soil sampling services. The company added a second sampling and testing location in Athens, in 1996.

• DIGS Associates, Moweaqua, IL.

These are THE drainage specialist across Illinois and will be providing an up-close look at:

• Drainage History – Then and Now • Drainage Law – What’s Legal

• Drainage Materials – Evolution of Tile • Drainage Equipment – Techniques and Methods

• Comprehensive Watershed Drainage Analysis • Working with Neighbors – Mutual Mains

Lunch, courtesy of DIGS Associates, will be served at their facility.

• GSI Grain Handling Equipment Manufacturing, Assumption

This is an encore tour for the Illinois Society having been here over 10 years ago! GSI grew from a small, l;ocal provider of

corrugated steel storage bins in 1972. Today it is the world’s largest manufacturer of steel farm bins, commercial storage grain bins and grain silos providing equipment and services to customer in over 70 compines worldwide.

• Sloan’s & Sloan’s Express, Assumption, IL.

No matter what the ag product or its color, Sloan Express rightfully calls itself America’s Ag Parts Supplier. Selling directly to farmers, implement dealers and repair shops, its catalog has over 75,000 items. Orders in by 2 p.m. ship the same date with guaranteed next-day delivery anywhere in Illinois. Could this be Ag’s version of Amazon?

• Arpeggio Winery, Pano, IL.

Arpeggion wines are wines with rhythm — Beginning in 2008, the Swiney Family planted a two-acre vineyard consisting of two varieties, Norton and Traminette. Their journey from grapes to wine has led them to the restoration of their centuryold barn called Arpeggio Winery. All of the wines are named after musical terms. Tonight you can sample some of their wines and relax to a specially-catered dinner.

Friday, August 10

• Marketing with ADM

Breakfast with guest speaker — A plated breakfast will be served following by a presentation from Sam Elmore, a merchandiser with ADM. He will review his role in buying whole trains, getting them loaded and shipped across the U.S.

• ADM’s Railyard — A behind-the-scenes tour

The group will travel by motor coach (no private vehicles allowed) to the ADM railyard and intermodal yard with a presentation on the day-to-day management of the facility including plant switching, rail car storage and contractor relations. Your host will be Gary Davis, senior operations manager ADM Rail.

ISPFMRA Summer 2018 Tour Committee: Roger Leach, AFM, AAC, CCA; Keith Waterman, AFM, ALC; Max Hendrickson; and Brady Evans and Brad Davis, both with U.S. Bank Farm Management.

 

Dan Legner Heads Up ISPFMRA Leadership Team

by Leave a Comment

2018 ISPFMRA Leadership

Daniel Legner, ARA, (left, front) heads up the 2018 leadership team of the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. He and the other officers were elected during the organization’s Annual Meeting held February 8 in Champaign, IL. Other members of the team are, right, from Legner: Rob Woodrow, AFM, president-elect, Farmland Solutions, LLC, Sherman, IL; Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., secretary/treasurer, University of Illinois, Champaign. In the second row are, from left: Maria Boerngen, Ph.D., academic vice president, Illinois State University, Normal, IL; Seth Baker, AFM, vice president, Field Level Agriculture, Mt. Zion, IL, and; Eric Wilkinson, AFM, immediate-past president, Hertz Farm Management, Kankakee, IL. Legner is Senior Certified Appraiser with Compeer Financial (formerly 1st Farm Credit Services) in Princeton, IL. He received his Accredited Rural Appraiser designation from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 2005.

Moody Named to Farm Managers/Appraisers Hall of Fame

by Leave a Comment

Moody to Hall of Fame color

Ernest D. (Ernie) Moody, AFM, ARA, AAC, (right) was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers at the organization’s annual meeting held February 8 in Champaign, IL. Making the presentation is Richard Hiatt, AFM, ARA, immediate past-president of the organization.

Moody is the 49th recipient of the honor which is given to members for their “outstanding service above and beyond.” In addition to serving as the Society’s president in 1996, he has chaired numerous committees and served on more. He is a co-founder of Heartland Ag Group of Springfield. The presentation coincided with the 90th Anniversary celebration of the society which was founded on the University of Illinois campus in 1928.