The price tag may not have been as eye-popping as the recent $21,900/acre sale in Sioux County, Iowa, but a land sale last Friday goes just as far in showing how strong of a position farmers hold in the race to acquire more land.Just like the sale in Sioux County that netted the highest price for a land auction in Iowa history, it was farmers -- not investors -- driving the bidding at a land auction near Bedford in Taylor County in southwest Iowa on Friday. Around 860 acres of land -- 559 of which are tillable and the rest recreational -- sold for just shy of $3.15 million. The land was sold in 10 tracts, says Joe Bubon of Murray Wise Associates, who conducted the auction, with 7 of those 10 selling individually. The largest parcel sold was 278 acres, which brought $3,687/acre.
