Boone County Iowa Farmland Market Report: 2025 and Early 2026
The Land Sleuth
49 recorded arm's-length farmland transactions in Boone County from January 2025 through early April 2026 — 3,712 gross acres and $45.9 million in total consideration. Median sale price was $12,871/acre in 2025, with early 2026 showing a softer opening at $9,954/acre median.
Boone County Iowa Farmland Market Report: 2025 and Early 2026
By Greg Conrad — The Land Sleuth | May 2026
Boone County sits at the geographic heart of Iowa's central cash-grain belt, where the Des Moines River valley meets some of the state's most productive upland soils. The county's farmland market in 2025 and early 2026 reflects the broader tension running through Iowa agriculture right now: strong underlying demand from local operators and investors, tempered by rising input costs, tighter farm income, and a handful of specialty-use parcels that skew headline averages well above what a typical tillable acre commands.
LandSleuth has compiled all 49 recorded arm's-length farmland transactions in Boone County from January 2025 through early April 2026 — 40 sales in 2025 and 9 sales in the first quarter of 2026. Together they represent 3,712 gross acres and $45.9 million in total consideration. Here is what the data shows.
2025 Full-Year Overview
Forty sales closed in Boone County during calendar year 2025, covering 3,152 gross acres at a combined value of just under $40 million. The median sale price was $12,871 per acre, and the average was $13,884 per acre — a gap that signals the influence of a small number of high-value outliers on the mean.
The average CSR2 score across 2025 transactions was 70.3, which is slightly below the statewide average for prime central Iowa farmland and reflects the county's mix of high-productivity upland ground and lower-rated timber-edge and pasture parcels. On a quality-adjusted basis, the median $/CSR2 point was $165.51, with an average of $202.17 — again pulled upward by outliers.
| Metric | 2025 Value |
|---|---|
| Sales count | 40 |
| Total acres | 3,152 |
| Total value | $39,923,025 |
| Average $/acre | $13,884 |
| Median $/acre | $12,871 |
| Average CSR2 | 70.3 |
| Median $/CSR2 pt | $165.51 |
Quarterly Trend
The 2025 market showed a notable mid-year spike before settling back to more typical levels in the second half of the year.
| Quarter | Sales | Avg $/Acre |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2025 (Jan–Mar) | 11 | $11,220 |
| Q2 2025 (Apr–Jun) | 12 | $19,190 |
| Q3 2025 (Jul–Sep) | 8 | $12,718 |
| Q4 2025 (Oct–Dec) | 9 | $11,105 |
The Q2 spike is largely explained by two non-typical transactions: a Colfax Township parcel that sold at $46,985 per acre and a Des Moines Township greenhouse property at $46,948 per acre. Stripping those two sales from Q2, the adjusted average falls to approximately $12,800 per acre — consistent with the rest of the year. The underlying trend for conventional tillable ground was relatively stable throughout 2025 in the $11,000–$13,000 per acre range.
Notable Sales
Two outliers require explanation. Sale 2025-08-05-015 (Colfax Township, May 2025) transferred 57.1 acres at $2,682,869 — or $46,985 per acre. The parcel's CSR2 of 83.6 is productive but not exceptional; the premium almost certainly reflects development pressure or a specific buyer motivation unrelated to agricultural productivity. Sale 2025-08-05-023 (Des Moines Township, June 2025) transferred 21.3 acres at $1,000,000 ($46,948/acre) and is noted in the record as a greenhouse property — a non-agricultural commercial use that removes it from any meaningful comparison with row-crop ground.
Both sales are included in the LandSleuth database for completeness, but buyers and sellers using this data for farmland valuation should exclude them from any comparable-sales analysis.
The highest-quality tillable sale in the dataset was 2025-08-05-028 in Peoples Township: 128 acres with a CSR2 of 88.1 that transferred at $15,000 per acre in August 2025. Peoples Township — in the south-central part of the county — consistently produced the highest-quality transactions in the dataset, with three sales averaging CSR2 of 88.0 and a price range of $12,821–$15,000 per acre.
The largest transaction by acreage was 2025-08-05-018 (Peoples Township, May 2025): 313.8 acres at $4,459,882, or $14,213 per acre, with a CSR2 of 87.0. This multi-parcel sale spanning Sections 30 and 31 of T82N R27W represents the kind of large-block consolidation that has characterized Boone County's market over the past several years.
Township Breakdown
Boone County's 17 townships show meaningful variation in both volume and price per acre, reflecting differences in soil quality, proximity to grain infrastructure, and parcel size.
| Township | Sales | Gross Acres | Avg $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoples | 6 | 812.7 | $13,585 |
| Worth | 6 | 374.9 | $10,517 |
| Amaqua | 5 | 303.5 | $13,096 |
| Marcy | 4 | 277.0 | $12,976 |
| Dodge | 4 | 238.9 | $9,238 |
| Beaver | 3 | 390.4 | $9,868 |
| Grant | 3 | 155.4 | $11,712 |
| Yell | 3 | 138.5 | $10,655 |
| Colfax | 2 | 134.1 | $30,243* |
| Des Moines | 2 | 43.2 | $35,871* |
| Garden | 2 | 156.0 | $13,796 |
| Jackson | 2 | 60.7 | $21,770 |
| Pilot Mound | 2 | 123.4 | $11,186 |
| Cass | 1 | 133.2 | $9,760 |
| Douglas | 2 | 115.9 | $6,160 |
| Harrison | 1 | 148.3 | $11,347 |
| Union | 1 | 105.9 | $3,000 |
*Colfax and Des Moines township averages are heavily influenced by the non-typical sales described above.
The Union Township sale at $3,000 per acre (105.9 acres, CSR2 33.7) stands at the other extreme — a low-productivity parcel with significant non-tillable acreage that illustrates how wide the quality spectrum can be within a single county.
Early 2026: A Softer Opening
The nine sales recorded in Boone County through early April 2026 suggest a more cautious market than the prior year. The median sale price dropped to $9,954 per acre and the average to $11,381 — declines of 23% and 18% respectively from 2025 levels. The average CSR2 of 73.5 is actually slightly higher than 2025's 70.3, meaning the quality-adjusted softening is even more pronounced: the median $/CSR2 point fell from $165.51 in 2025 to $141.71 in early 2026.
| Metric | 2025 | Early 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales count | 40 | 9 | — |
| Avg $/acre | $13,884 | $11,381 | −18% |
| Median $/acre | $12,871 | $9,954 | −23% |
| Avg CSR2 | 70.3 | 73.5 | +3.2 pts |
| Median $/CSR2 pt | $165.51 | $141.71 | −14% |
Nine sales is a small sample, and early-year transactions in Iowa farmland tend to skew toward smaller or less-competitive parcels. It would be premature to call a trend from this data alone. That said, the direction is consistent with what LandSleuth is observing across central Iowa: buyers are more selective, seller expectations are adjusting downward from 2022–2023 peak levels, and the $/CSR2 point metric — the most reliable apples-to-apples measure — is compressing.
What This Means for Buyers and Sellers
For buyers, Boone County offers a wide range of entry points. High-CSR2 ground in Peoples, Amaqua, and Marcy townships is trading in the $13,000–$15,000 range — competitive but not irrational given current cash rents. Lower-productivity parcels in Douglas, Union, and parts of Dodge Township are available well below $10,000 per acre and may suit buyers with specific operational or recreational objectives.
For sellers, the data suggests that the window of peak pricing has passed. The quality-adjusted $/CSR2 point metric peaked in the 2022–2023 period and has been declining since. Sellers with high-CSR2 ground in active townships can still achieve strong prices, but the days of bidding wars that pushed $/CSR2 points above $200 on average appear to be behind us — at least for now.
For appraisers and lenders, the two non-typical sales in Colfax and Des Moines townships are a reminder to scrutinize comments fields and net-versus-gross acre ratios before using any transaction as a comparable. The LandSleuth database includes comments where available and displays both gross and net acres for every record.
Explore the Data
All 49 Boone County transactions described in this report are available in the LandSleuth database. You can filter by township, CSR2 range, sale year, and price per acre to build your own comparable-sales set.
For context on how to interpret CSR2 scores, see our explainer: What Is CSR2 and Why Does It Matter for Iowa Farmland?
For a primer on reading individual sale records, see: How to Read a Farmland Sale Record
Data sourced from Boone County recorded deed transactions, 2025–2026. All sales are arm's-length deed transfers unless otherwise noted. Non-typical sales (greenhouse, development) are included in the database but flagged in the analysis above. LandSleuth does not provide appraisal services; this report is for informational purposes only.
Written by
Greg Conrad
The Land Sleuth
Greg Conrad has spent more than a decade sourcing courthouse-verified farmland sales data across Iowa. LandSleuth is built on that same standard of accuracy — every record verified, every price real.
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Boone County Iowa Farmland Market Report: 2025 and Early 2026
Boone County Iowa Farmland Market Report: 2025 and Early 2026
By Greg Conrad — The Land Sleuth | May 2026
Boone County sits at the geographic heart of Iowa's central cash-grain belt, where the Des Moines River valley meets some of the state's most productive upland soils. The county's farmland market in 2025 and early 2026 reflects the broader tension running through Iowa agriculture right now: strong underlying demand from local operators and investors, tempered by rising input costs, tighter farm income, and a handful of specialty-use parcels that skew headline averages well above what a typical tillable acre commands.
LandSleuth has compiled all 49 recorded arm's-length farmland transactions in Boone County from January 2025 through early April 2026 — 40 sales in 2025 and 9 sales in the first quarter of 2026. Together they represent 3,712 gross acres and $45.9 million in total consideration. Here is what the data shows.
2025 Full-Year Overview
Forty sales closed in Boone County during calendar year 2025, covering 3,152 gross acres at a combined value of just under $40 million. The median sale price was $12,871 per acre, and the average was $13,884 per acre — a gap that signals the influence of a small number of high-value outliers on the mean.
The average CSR2 score across 2025 transactions was 70.3, which is slightly below the statewide average for prime central Iowa farmland and reflects the county's mix of high-productivity upland ground and lower-rated timber-edge and pasture parcels. On a quality-adjusted basis, the median $/CSR2 point was $165.51, with an average of $202.17 — again pulled upward by outliers.
| Metric | 2025 Value |
|---|---|
| Sales count | 40 |
| Total acres | 3,152 |
| Total value | $39,923,025 |
| Average $/acre | $13,884 |
| Median $/acre | $12,871 |
| Average CSR2 | 70.3 |
| Median $/CSR2 pt | $165.51 |
Quarterly Trend
The 2025 market showed a notable mid-year spike before settling back to more typical levels in the second half of the year.
| Quarter | Sales | Avg $/Acre |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2025 (Jan–Mar) | 11 | $11,220 |
| Q2 2025 (Apr–Jun) | 12 | $19,190 |
| Q3 2025 (Jul–Sep) | 8 | $12,718 |
| Q4 2025 (Oct–Dec) | 9 | $11,105 |
The Q2 spike is largely explained by two non-typical transactions: a Colfax Township parcel that sold at $46,985 per acre and a Des Moines Township greenhouse property at $46,948 per acre. Stripping those two sales from Q2, the adjusted average falls to approximately $12,800 per acre — consistent with the rest of the year. The underlying trend for conventional tillable ground was relatively stable throughout 2025 in the $11,000–$13,000 per acre range.
Notable Sales
Two outliers require explanation. Sale 2025-08-05-015 (Colfax Township, May 2025) transferred 57.1 acres at $2,682,869 — or $46,985 per acre. The parcel's CSR2 of 83.6 is productive but not exceptional; the premium almost certainly reflects development pressure or a specific buyer motivation unrelated to agricultural productivity. Sale 2025-08-05-023 (Des Moines Township, June 2025) transferred 21.3 acres at $1,000,000 ($46,948/acre) and is noted in the record as a greenhouse property — a non-agricultural commercial use that removes it from any meaningful comparison with row-crop ground.
Both sales are included in the LandSleuth database for completeness, but buyers and sellers using this data for farmland valuation should exclude them from any comparable-sales analysis.
The highest-quality tillable sale in the dataset was 2025-08-05-028 in Peoples Township: 128 acres with a CSR2 of 88.1 that transferred at $15,000 per acre in August 2025. Peoples Township — in the south-central part of the county — consistently produced the highest-quality transactions in the dataset, with three sales averaging CSR2 of 88.0 and a price range of $12,821–$15,000 per acre.
The largest transaction by acreage was 2025-08-05-018 (Peoples Township, May 2025): 313.8 acres at $4,459,882, or $14,213 per acre, with a CSR2 of 87.0. This multi-parcel sale spanning Sections 30 and 31 of T82N R27W represents the kind of large-block consolidation that has characterized Boone County's market over the past several years.
Township Breakdown
Boone County's 17 townships show meaningful variation in both volume and price per acre, reflecting differences in soil quality, proximity to grain infrastructure, and parcel size.
| Township | Sales | Gross Acres | Avg $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoples | 6 | 812.7 | $13,585 |
| Worth | 6 | 374.9 | $10,517 |
| Amaqua | 5 | 303.5 | $13,096 |
| Marcy | 4 | 277.0 | $12,976 |
| Dodge | 4 | 238.9 | $9,238 |
| Beaver | 3 | 390.4 | $9,868 |
| Grant | 3 | 155.4 | $11,712 |
| Yell | 3 | 138.5 | $10,655 |
| Colfax | 2 | 134.1 | $30,243* |
| Des Moines | 2 | 43.2 | $35,871* |
| Garden | 2 | 156.0 | $13,796 |
| Jackson | 2 | 60.7 | $21,770 |
| Pilot Mound | 2 | 123.4 | $11,186 |
| Cass | 1 | 133.2 | $9,760 |
| Douglas | 2 | 115.9 | $6,160 |
| Harrison | 1 | 148.3 | $11,347 |
| Union | 1 | 105.9 | $3,000 |
*Colfax and Des Moines township averages are heavily influenced by the non-typical sales described above.
The Union Township sale at $3,000 per acre (105.9 acres, CSR2 33.7) stands at the other extreme — a low-productivity parcel with significant non-tillable acreage that illustrates how wide the quality spectrum can be within a single county.
Early 2026: A Softer Opening
The nine sales recorded in Boone County through early April 2026 suggest a more cautious market than the prior year. The median sale price dropped to $9,954 per acre and the average to $11,381 — declines of 23% and 18% respectively from 2025 levels. The average CSR2 of 73.5 is actually slightly higher than 2025's 70.3, meaning the quality-adjusted softening is even more pronounced: the median $/CSR2 point fell from $165.51 in 2025 to $141.71 in early 2026.
| Metric | 2025 | Early 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales count | 40 | 9 | — |
| Avg $/acre | $13,884 | $11,381 | −18% |
| Median $/acre | $12,871 | $9,954 | −23% |
| Avg CSR2 | 70.3 | 73.5 | +3.2 pts |
| Median $/CSR2 pt | $165.51 | $141.71 | −14% |
Nine sales is a small sample, and early-year transactions in Iowa farmland tend to skew toward smaller or less-competitive parcels. It would be premature to call a trend from this data alone. That said, the direction is consistent with what LandSleuth is observing across central Iowa: buyers are more selective, seller expectations are adjusting downward from 2022–2023 peak levels, and the $/CSR2 point metric — the most reliable apples-to-apples measure — is compressing.
What This Means for Buyers and Sellers
For buyers, Boone County offers a wide range of entry points. High-CSR2 ground in Peoples, Amaqua, and Marcy townships is trading in the $13,000–$15,000 range — competitive but not irrational given current cash rents. Lower-productivity parcels in Douglas, Union, and parts of Dodge Township are available well below $10,000 per acre and may suit buyers with specific operational or recreational objectives.
For sellers, the data suggests that the window of peak pricing has passed. The quality-adjusted $/CSR2 point metric peaked in the 2022–2023 period and has been declining since. Sellers with high-CSR2 ground in active townships can still achieve strong prices, but the days of bidding wars that pushed $/CSR2 points above $200 on average appear to be behind us — at least for now.
For appraisers and lenders, the two non-typical sales in Colfax and Des Moines townships are a reminder to scrutinize comments fields and net-versus-gross acre ratios before using any transaction as a comparable. The LandSleuth database includes comments where available and displays both gross and net acres for every record.
Explore the Data
All 49 Boone County transactions described in this report are available in the LandSleuth database. You can filter by township, CSR2 range, sale year, and price per acre to build your own comparable-sales set.
For context on how to interpret CSR2 scores, see our explainer: What Is CSR2 and Why Does It Matter for Iowa Farmland?
For a primer on reading individual sale records, see: How to Read a Farmland Sale Record
Data sourced from Boone County recorded deed transactions, 2025–2026. All sales are arm's-length deed transfers unless otherwise noted. Non-typical sales (greenhouse, development) are included in the database but flagged in the analysis above. LandSleuth does not provide appraisal services; this report is for informational purposes only.