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Timber and recreation ground on an 83-acre Clay County, Iowa farm

What Are Timber and Recreation Acres Worth on an Iowa Farm?

An acre of northwest Iowa timber is worth about a third of an acre of good cropland, and CSR2 will tell you it is worth nothing at all. Here is what actually prices timber, pasture, and recreation ground, why the timber up here sits where it does, and what the Forest Reserve exemption costs you in lease income.

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Northwest Iowa cropland

What Should Your 2027 Cash Rent Be? An Iowa Guide

The 2026 Iowa average is $270 per crop acre. Our own auction results tell a different story: Clay County ground sold from $15,600 to $22,100 per acre this year. Here is how to price your farm off CSR2, yield history, and land value, and why September 1 decides whether you can act on the number.

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Iowa farmland offered in multiple tracts at public auction

How Many Tracts Should Your Farm Sell In?

Splitting a farm into tracts usually raises the total, but not because more tracts means more bidders. It is because a single price per acre forces your best and worst ground to sell for the same number. Here is how far apart your acres have to be before tracts pay, where the lines actually go, and what happens to your FSA base acres when the farm splits.

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Iowa corn at harvest, when flexible farm lease rent is determined

Flexible Farm Leases in Iowa: How They Work and What They Cost

A flexible lease sets your rent after harvest instead of before it. Most Iowa flex leases pay 25% to 40% of gross crop value, or a base plus a bonus. Here is how both formulas work with real arithmetic, why a guaranteed floor is never free, and the yield verification question that wrecks these agreements in year two.

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