American Agriculture History Minute: Why a Farmland Auction Draws a Crowd

Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute looks into why a farmland auction usually draws a good-sized crowd.

But, on a bitter, cold February morning in 2025, temperatures outside in central Iowa nearly zero, a group so large it was standing room only. Why? They were watching an Iowa farm change hands for the first time since 1882.

636 acres of prime farmland in Guthrie County, Iowa. It was eventually split into eight tracks, five buyers, a grand total, nine and a half million dollars. All eight tracks were sold to local farmers who knew that the land might not come up again for sale for another 140 years.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.