US farmland buyers still in buying mode

[CARLINVILLE, Illinois] Buyers of US farmland appear undaunted by falling grain prices, paying top dollar for prime parcels coming up at autumn auctions although showing a more cautious tone than in recent years, farmland auction participants said at a sale last week.

"It's more dependent on where a farm is located than the general land market. The person the farm is near matters more than the type of farm," said Bruce Huber, an Illinois real estate broker who handled a sale in central Illinois last week.

If the sale of the 217 hectare grain farm in Carlinville, Illinois, for US$14.5 million is any indication, farmland values in the most productive areas of the grain belt will stay steady during harvest, the traditional season for farmland auctions.