The farmland market appears to be slowing as the calendar gets closer to the end of 2024. Tim Cobb of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers says things had been steady for most of the year.

“We’ve seen steady – at least at the beginning of the year – to a bit higher volume of sales opportunities. However, the latter half of this year has been a bit mixed. Things are starting to slow a little bit, due to what I would feel mostly to the retreat of external interest. We’ve just seen a bit of a protraction and a bit of a slowing in the volume of it. Many of the farms that had transacted this year have either sold directly to an operator or the operator has been involved, the actual farmer being the main buyer of many of the farms that we’ve taken care of in 2024 thus far.”

You He says farmland is sitting available on the market for longer periods.

“Things are taking a little bit longer. They’re taking a little bit longer to get sold and eventually, they do get sold. However, it is taking longer than it used to, even 12 to 24 months ago, which is indicative of just the amount of buyers that we are not seeing in the market right now from an institutional perspective. We work with buyers and sellers, lots of different kinds and we’re seeing less and less interest as other investments are having some bigger returns at this point.”

Cobb talks about what sellers need to do in a slowing market to have the best chance to move their land.

“The most important thing is to just simply have your details ready for potential buyers, and that would be one thing I would say is very important. I would say another thing is to understand the market. There is no better trade-off or better thing to have in front of you than very, very accurate market data. Work with a professional, work with, have your values, understand your time frames, and then set your expectations. I mean, this farm has been in your family or likely been in your operation for a very long time. To think that it’s going to turn on a dime is not something that you should come to that process with.”

For more information on farmland, go to asfrma.com.