142-Year-Old Iowa Family Farm Sold at Auction for $14,958 an Acre

On a bitter cold February morning when the temperature outside struggled to get above zero degrees, a group so large it was standing room only gathered to watch an Iowa farm change hands for the first time since 1882. The 635.91 acres of prime farmland, spread out in Guthrie County, Iowa, was split into eight tracts and sold to five buyers for a grand total of about $9.5 million. 

The Sale

David Whitaker sold the land and said it was one of the most well attended auctions in the 18 years he’s owned Whitaker Marketing Group. In addition, he said the selling price exceeded expectations in a big way. 

“The family had an appraisal done about a year ago when the market was a little bit stronger,” Whitaker said. “It valued the farm, minus the two homes located on the land, at around $8.9 million.” 

The auction brought in around $600,000 more than the appraised value. What made this number even more remarkable was that Farm Credit Services of America and the Realtor Land Institute both recently published surveys that say land values are down even more from a year ago when the appraisal was conducted, by 5% and 8% respectively. Those economic indicators would have suggested the land would sell for about $13,000 an acre, lower than the nearly $15,000 per acre sale price. 

About 150 people came out to watch the auction in person. Whitaker says 60 people registered to take part in the bidding of the properties, which included a diverse group of investors – both inside and outside Iowa – and farmers who wanted to expand their own operations. In the end, all eight tracts sold to local farmers who have existing land nearby.

The land is rented for the 2025 season. The buyers will receive the cash rent for this year.

Sellers

The Vernon and Frances Chaloupka Trusts owned all eight tracts of land. Vernon and Frances Chaloupka farmed and then rented the land for nearly 70 years. Before that, two generations of Chaloupka farmers, dating back to a time before tractors were used, made a living off the land, surviving economic challenges like the Great Depression. 

The first piece of ground acquired was 160 acres in 1882. Joseph Chaloupka, who followed some of his family to Iowa from Czechoslovakia, made his home in Guthrie County and eventually saved enough money to buy the land. 

In 1890, Joseph bought the second piece, about 150 acres. Over the years, additional land was either purchased or inherited. Vernon and Frances, who started farming the land in the 1940s, passed away in recent years – Vernon in 2022 and Frances in 2023. 

The ground was left to the couple’s five daughters and, according to their middle daughter Connie Chaloupka, selling it was difficult. 

“There was no easy way to split it five ways,” she said. “Somebody was going to get short changed.” 

Connie knew the land well and had an emotional attachment. She helped her father farm in the late 1970s and early 1980s and wanted to keep the land in the family. She even considered buying part of it, but now that she’s at retirement age, it didn’t seem practical. Connie and her sisters held a vote and decided as a group that the land should be sold. Three sisters voted to sell. Connie and another sister wanted to keep it as a way to pay tribute to their immigrant relatives who worked hard to buy it and work the land all those years. 

“I can honestly say I am not over it,” Connie said. “I can’t stand to think of someone else on our land.” 

Economic Perspective

Although the Chaloupka’s land sale exceeded the realtor’s appraised value, Iowa farm values have experienced a dip in recent months. The annual Iowa State University Land Value Survey released in December found that farmland values decreased 3.1%, or $369, to $11,467 per acre. The decrease in 2024 nearly erases the 3.7% increase from 2023 and ends a five-year trend of increasing prices. 

Falling commodity prices, persistently high interest rates, and elevated input costs are the main factors that tightened profit margins and placed downward pressure on land values across the state, according to Rabail Chandio, the author of the survey. 

But Chandio says farm sales like this one often prove that limited supply can create exceptions. “If my neighbor’s farm is for sale and it is only going to happen once in my lifetime, then I am going to pay whatever I need to,” he said.  

Whitaker believes farmers and potential land buyers are optimistic for several reasons. First, the new presidential administration is giving people excitement for something new. Second, he believes the commodity price rally that happened the week of the sale, specifically with corn prices breaking back into the $5 range, helped bring some optimism about the future of the farm economy. 

Whitaker also says this auction proves that feelings play a role in farm sales. “I make this statement all the time,” he said. “Markets are emotion. And when the emotion is good, farmers want to buy.” 

The Land

The eight tracts of land are located outside the small towns of Yale and Bagley. Most of the fields are long and flat, making it ideal row-crop ground. The land also has a high Corn Sustainability Rating (CSR2) – the index that measures the inherent soil productivity for row-crop production with 100 being the highest score. Guthrie County has the highest CSR2-rated soil in the state, according to Iowa State University. 

Tract 1

• Acres: 155.13
• Tillable acres: 150.56
• CSR2: 86.5
• Selling price per acre: $15,800
• Location: 1.2 miles west of Bagley
• Estimated taxes: $6,542.19

Tract 2

• Acres: 24.37
• Tillable acres: 22.85
• CSR2: 88.5
• Selling price per acre: $7,800
• Location: 0.9 miles west of Bagley
• Estimate taxes: $872

Tract 3

• Acres: 79
• Tillable acres: 76.7
• CSR2: 88.5
• Selling price per acre: $15,800
• Location: 0.8 miles west of Bagley
• Estimated taxes: $2,992

Tract 4

• Acres: 70
• Tillable acres: 68.05
• CSR2: 88.6
• Selling price per acre: $14,200
• Location: 1.2 miles north of Yale
• Estimated taxes: $2,678

Tract 5

• Acres: 71.41
• Tillable Acres: 68.67 
• CSR2: 89
• Selling price per acre: $16,100
• Location: 1.1 miles north of Yale
• Estimated taxes: $4,962.30

Tract 6

• Acres: 78
• Tillable Acres: 75.62
• CSR2: 88.3
• Selling price per acre: $14,200
• Location: 1.1 miles northwest of Yale
• Estimated taxes: $2,942

Tract 7

• Acres: 78
• Tillable acres: 75.2
• CSR2: 88.7
• Selling price per acre: $14,200
• Location: 0.9 miles northwest of Yale
• Estimated taxes: $3,068

Tract 8

• Acres: 80
• Tillable acres: 79.5
• CSR2: 88.9
• Selling price per acre: $15,800
• Location: 0.5 miles southwest of Yale
• Estimated taxes: $3,044

Produced in partnership with American Farmland Owner (AFO). AFO aims to help landowners make informed decisions for their farmland while ensuring the prosperity of American agriculture.