America’s Land Auctioneer
Captivate and celebrate the dynamics of rural America, American Agriculture and inspire and teach others how to live a bold and abundant life in rural America. Background: The intrigue, endless opportunities, and romance of rural life in America have never been more on the minds of Americans. The recent pandemic and civil unrest have Americans of all ages earning for a more peaceful, less hectic life. Even billionaire Bill Gates is now the largest crop landowner in America. As many Americans look for peaceful refuge in the rolling hills and wheat fields they are faced with a richness of opportunities. But where do you begin to look? This show will highlight and feature endless opportunities in every state. What is it that is so unique about rural America, the land and what it produces? How can I live that life? The American Land Auctioneer will tell stories and weave into those stories a place for you to dream, live and enjoy the abundance of all that rural America has to offer.
America’s Land Auctioneer
Inside Record-Breaking Land Auctions And The Legacy They Shape
Record prices, local buyers, and a century of family history collide in a fast-paced look at how land really changes hands. We team up to unpack two headline auctions—a strong multi-parcel sale near Winner, South Dakota and a landmark $19 million, 14-parcel sprint outside Casselton, North Dakota—and share what these deals reveal about price discovery, timing, and who’s actually bidding when great ground opens up.
We start with the human side: fifth-generation stories, wagon trails that became field approaches, and heirs who know the farm by a tax bill more than a township road. Then we zoom into the mechanics that matter—parcel strategy, honest marketing, and the right lead time—so buyers can arrange financing and 1031 exchanges while sellers gain the confidence that comes from transparent competition. You’ll hear why the Winner area’s blend of cattle, crops, and pheasant hunting attracts diverse bidders, and how the Red River Valley’s loam, drainage, and proximity to processors set the stage for rapid bidding and a decisive finish.
The episode breaks down online versus live dynamics, explaining why high-stakes buyers sometimes prefer the focus of a screen while others feed off the energy in the room. We also tackle the market paradox: softer grain prices and higher rates, yet deep demand for quality acres. The throughline is simple—well-run auctions expose real value. Whether you’re considering a family sale, eyeing a neighboring quarter, or weighing an investment that pairs production with recreation, you’ll come away with a clear view of buyer profiles, pricing logic, and the preparation that turns uncertainty into action.
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Contact the team at Pifer's
Good morning, everybody. Chris Bear, your host of the Legacy of Agriculture. Thank you for joining us on this Saturday morning. Steve Link, Pfeiffer's uh real estate broker, is joining me today, and we're teaming up to record both the Legacy of Agriculture and America's Land Auctioneer. Really quickly, Steve, tell us what America's Land Auctioneer is.
SPEAKER_00:Well, America's Land Auctioneer, we uh we typically re record these um segments up in Fargo, and they are the the radio show and and and such is is on is on is on the local radio stations there in Fargo and Bismarck and all over. But just like your show, you can listen to it anytime on Spotify or Apple. You can search us, you can find us, you can go to our website and you'll see the recordings there too. So if you miss anything from today's shows or anything in the past, you can you can listen to it. But America's Land Auctioneer, we really try and talk about topics that affect landowners. Either if you're already a landowner or if you're thinking about purchasing a landowner or if you're thinking of selling your land, we talk about all those topics, all those tax topics, all those um estate deal issues, everything that has to do with land, we try and talk about those. Try and be really educational on there. We hope that we um that that when people listen to it, they walk away alone, knowing a little bit more about either land that they're gonna purchase or land that they're selling or land that they're gonna inherit.
SPEAKER_01:Um so that's really cool. You know, I I have to confess that when I came to work for Piffers and Kevin started America's Land Auctioneer, I probably learned more about land and land auctions than I ever did about going to an auction. It it it's a it's very, very informal. And because the Legacy of Agriculture is also going to be on America's Land Auctioneers show, uh, the legacy of agriculture is simply about the history of agriculture and interviewing uh we we do a r array of topics from the invention of barbed wire to talking about land values to talking about third and fourth and fifth generation farms. And I don't know if you know this or not, a little plug for the legacy of agriculture, but I've got a gentleman that I am going to be interviewing here in the next few months that is fifth generation in South Dakota, and his family five generations ago owned land in South Dakota before South Dakota was a state.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01:And so it it's really interesting as we do these land auctions, Steve, that the people that come out of the work work and this gentleman had actually bought two parcels from us and was and this gentleman was going to give one parcel to a granddaughter and one parcel to a grandson so that they could start farming.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So it's it's the the history about agriculture and the fun topics that you can get into and and talk about and really root around in and gather information is a whole lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00:I'm I'm really excited to he to to listen to that episode because because I I I really geek out on that. And and when when people are telling me about the history of their farm and and just the stories of of great grandpa when they came from you know from another country and and why they stopped in South Dakota, why they stopped in in North Dakota or Western Minnesota, um, or they kept going. And some of those stories, it was like, really, really, great grandpa. I did you really have to stop in the worst land in the area? And and then fast forward, you know, how many years later, and then they find oil underneath that ranch or coal, and that wasn't such a bad decision, you know. And obviously those decisions weren't made because of those mineral rights, but it was made um what was available at the time. But uh you get pretty jealous when you go through some of those rich soils and you ended up in some of the poorer soils.
SPEAKER_01:About a year ago, you don't know this, and I don't know if you ever listened to the uh American or um Legacy of Agriculture, but I did one with Jim Sabi, and his the land that he's in in Scranton, North Dakota, and he had a grandfather that walked from the railroad in Dickinson, came from Iowa, rode the rail out to Dickinson, found farm ground, went back, got on the rail, went back to Iowa, brought out whatever little bit of farm equipment it was many moons ago, and started farming. And so when you really start um digging around in in family history and you really get people thinking about their family history, some of the stories are just absolutely amazing. Just just it just takes your breath away for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and we're so fortunate. So, you know, I left I left Fargo um not until three o'clock yesterday to come down to winter and uh for for a sale today and and rolled in at 9 30. And that's a that's a that's a healthy trip, you know. But I went 80 miles an hour on the interstate, which you can now most of the way. And you think of back in the day going on wagons and trains and and such and the days it would take for them to do the same trip that I just did. Um, I I think is incredible. Growing up, there was a little um on a on a quarter of land that that we had, there was a cart path um that was still there. You can still see how they raised up the cart path um and because it cut across a uh a quarter section that we that that we have and we still have and I just am amazed by those stories and the thought of somebody going on that wagon trail and now I now I now we drive on it over it with a you know a four-wheel drive tractor and and and how the the advances of plowing and all that and just travel. I just I love I love that history.
SPEAKER_01:You know, you talk about the speed of travel, um and and Kevin came from from our corporate offices and Moorhead flew down here in what an hour and 10 minutes or an hour and 20 minutes, and I was driving from Sioux Falls to get out here, and we left at the same time, and he beat me by an hour and 20 minutes, and I'm going, what's up with that? Yeah, yeah. He says, You should have stopped in Sioux Falls and picked me up and brought me in the airplane with you, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:And so agriculture is always a lot of fun, and I one of the things that I want to talk about is let's talk really quickly about the auction that we just had in winter. Winter's a new area uh to Pifer Auction Realty. It's an area of a tremendous amount of interest for us. Um and we had a great sale. Yep, it was a fantastic sale. We sold, we sold two parcels of land. Um, we didn't tie them together, we sold them each individually, and they both performed very well. Tell us quickly about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so just to just a little back up a little bit. It actually winter is not that new of territory for me. I remember um actually flying down here when we would fly uh a little Cessna 2210. Um, and that was an eye-opening experience to land in Winter South Dakota's um airport, and it was during hunting season, and we managed to land down here, and that's what we were checking on. Um, and this was 15, 20 years ago, and all of the jets that were on the runway. So that was just eye-opening. I'm like, what is going on? And the first thing they said, well, it's pheasant season, and so um there's a ton of corporations and and and wealthy uh individuals that were that had their jets up here and they were enjoying hunting, and so you drive around and you see kind of all the different hunting clubs and and such that are that are providing that service, and so that was eye-opening. So then you look at agriculture and you look at the different ways to bring in income, and hunting is a big portion of of the the winter area. And so when we took on this project of of selling, um basically it's three quarters, two of them were right next to each other, and and we sold that as a full half section because a lot of the terrain, the the the um the the crop ground and such, they actually transfer uh they actually were on both quarters and uh to split that up and to figure out where the line is and how to farm that just wasn't very conducive. So we sold that as a full half section. Um, and then the other quarter was you know 10 to 10 to 12 miles away from the uh from the half section. And so we thought it would be appropriate to sell those as individual parcels and not tie them together or not do a high bidder choice on that, which we've talked about in other episodes. Um, and so that's what we did. We uh um we we sold them in uh uh separate great turnout, great results. You know, they brought you know 4,300 bucks an acre at a Dedacre across the board and just just a tremendous sale today.
SPEAKER_01:And between the online bidders that were bidding and the live bidders, we had probably about 35 bidders, would you say?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, at least, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Might have been closer to 40, which is tremendous. Hey folks, we're gonna be right back in the second segment of America's Land Auctioneer and also of the legacy of agriculture.
SPEAKER_00:This is Steve Link with Piffers Auction and Realty Broker. Um, and we had a little time at the end of this segment, so I wanted to take this time to make sure that uh all our listeners are um having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and hopefully out supporting um small business Saturday here or will later today. And uh and Black Friday I hope was was fun and and maybe got a chance to go outdoors and and enjoy that and and uh do a little pheasant hunting. Um and and most of all, I hope everybody got time to spend with their family. Um these these sales that I've had over the last couple months have um been um amazing, the the friendships that I have made with with the sellers. And um and me personally have gone through some um difficult time here with my mother passing, and um it is clear that uh when you start out these um relationships as business, and it turns out that that they become become family, um extended family, um that that's really important. So um for those of you um out there and and wondering, hey, you know, is is calling an auction company um is there high pressure? No. Um like I said, we've become friends and I am always out looking for um what's uh looking out for the sellers and making sure that what our products that we're offering is a good fit and to make sure that um if they are thinking of selling, if they're thinking about keeping, that we talk facts and what can happen and lay it out so that it so we meet their objectives and and it can come across as a sales pitch, but it really isn't. We we we provide a service that is um life-changing in some situations, and I think that that's important to remember. So if you want to call me directly 701-361-9985, or go to Pyphers.com and you can search around, you can see any of our team members, our land managers, um, or shoot me an email at st l-in k stlink at pyphers.com. And again, all of it is under confidence, it is um it is um free consultation, and I think you'll find it uh an enjoyable process depending on um what your situation is, and and if if uh if I can do anything that just help uh help owners, landowners, um stick with us on AmericanLand.com and we'll be right back after the host of Legacy of Agriculture.
SPEAKER_01:We're also joining on with America's land auctioneer and Steve Link out of our corporate office. Uh Steve, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. You got a long ways to travel today to get back home.
SPEAKER_00:I know, but this is this is I don't wanna I don't want to rush anything. In fact, I I I gotta trigger figure out how to get a get a license and go maybe shoot a couple birds before I get back to the North Dakota side.
SPEAKER_01:But uh it's 150 bucks, by the way.
SPEAKER_00:Is that well that's all right, you know. Um, you know, so it's so much fun being down here, and it's warmer every time I'm down here, it's a little warmer than it is in Fargo. And so I I like I like coming down here and the people are really nice. And and as we were talking the last segment, um, you know, this area, um, every time I come down here, I'm just reminded of how how um uh diverse this is. It's good cattle country, it's good crop country, um, you know, and the crops, some of the crops um they're they're they're growing for for feed production, and and then you like I said, you have that hunting aspect on it. So somebody asked me um, you know, who's a buyer, what's the buyer profile gonna be? And I said, you know, it's gonna be interesting. Is it gonna be a producer? Is it gonna be a cattle guy that's the you know that that kind of producer? Is it gonna be a crop producer? Is it gonna be a producer that gets extra income from hosting hunters? Is it gonna be um an investor that straight wants to rent it out for crop ground and hunting? Is it gonna be an investor that wants to hunt it themselves and get a little bit of income on the on the crop or what have you? And and so when we set these sales up, we make sure we hit on all of that so that we uh attract all of those buyers and make sure that everybody that that may be interested. And and I think we had I think we had buyers, buyers in both camps. I think we had um somebody who um is used to the production agriculture and um they're going to rent it, um, they're gonna rent it to to some local producers um and then hunt it themselves. Um and I think the other party is gonna be similar profile um where they were teamed up with a local producer and gonna buy it and and utilize it for hunting and and and rent it to them. So um, but just great participation. Um, you know, it it overall you can do the math. Uh 480 acres at those rates, you know, you're up over two million dollars on a on a on a sale, and that sounds just crazy because a long not not that long ago, a lot of this land in this region sold for um you know five, six, seven, eight, nine hundred dollars an acre. Not nine thousand.
SPEAKER_01:The big big sales were twelve hundred bucks an acre.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly, yeah, exactly. And so you're talking hundred, hundred dollars of acre versus thousands of dollars of acre per per acre, and it's just those numbers are just mind-boggling to people. Um, you know, there was another sale in the region too, um and and those in the in that sale, you know, was closer to an$18 million sale, and this one was closer to a$2 million sale, you know, and so you got 20 million that that that an area can actually sustain in that with in a short period of time. And that sounds like a lot, but it's happening. And it doesn't take you know the Bill Gates or China or somebody to do that. It's it's it's it's typically um regional re regional buyers that uh that are producers or or somebody that's tied to that land.
SPEAKER_01:That leads me to a question that Steve that I think is very important and and that I think are uh we need to discuss for our listeners is is last week, 10 days ago, you had a sale up in Castleton, North Dakota. Um we were anticipating a$14 million sale. It was high production, great Red River uh Valley uh bottom ground soil was just as black as black could be. It was what everybody wanted, it was in close proximity to a plant. I mean, it had all the makings, and the sale brought$19 million. And how many parcels was it?
SPEAKER_00:14 parcels.
SPEAKER_01:14 parcels, and I brought 19 million and it was bought by one individual, and everybody goes, Bill Gates, Bill Gates. No, it was not, it was a local farmer that bought that. So the question that I have for you, Steve, is is when you're sitting across the kitchen table from mom and dad and and talking about having their farm sale, or they've got two or three quarters they want to sell, and it's two million dollars, or it's eight million. That's you you're right, it does sound like a lot of money, but in today's agriculture, there's buyers out there for it. Yeah, so tell me tell me your opinion on that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let me tell you a little bit about the history of it. So those listeners that are further away, Castleton is 20 miles, um, 20 miles west of Fargo. And um in in Fargo and the Red River Valley is considered some of the best agricultural land in the world, right? And um, but historically, we have not kept up with our numbers in the I states at Iowa and Southern Minnesota. We just have not historically in Illinois. Yeah, so so um, but when they're doing well, it seems like the valley does well. But the history, you know, the legacy of agriculture, like you talk about, this farm um was was um owned by the wool family, and Johnny Wool um grew up on that, um passed away six, you know, six or seven years ago, or five or six years ago he passed away. Um, and just a just a great guy, great neighbor. I I lived out there, knew knew Johnny. Um his uncle was a lainger who was a uh governor of North Dakota. Um and and and there's all kinds of ties to it. But that land has not switched hands in a century, you know, over a hundred years. It's always, you know, it's always been in that family between the layer and the wolves. And um it got to a situation that um you know John's John's wife, um um Inez, just a wonderful, beautiful lady. I got to be really good friends with her, and she passed away, and so then it goes to the next generation. And just like we've talked about in other other um episodes, is when it gets to be um the next generation, and that generation isn't spring chickens either.
SPEAKER_01:They are at an age where now you gotta be careful how you say or define spring chicken because I'm a spring chicken.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I know and every year I feel like I feel like um those those numbers that I used to think are old are not old anymore. So um and so I I I I but that generation is is at the age, you know, and they in fact one of them had had an health issue and passed away recently, and she was a wonderful, wonderful person. And it just gets to the point where um, you know, it's time for that asset to be turned into cash because then it's easier for um for for everybody to to to to live their separate lives, right? And um, but um it's a testament to them holding that land together when you put that out there um to uh attract uh you know the buyers are gonna come and they're gonna be interested when you put that that that type of land together. So I'll I'll talk a little bit about that. So it's 1700 acres, it's right outside of Castleton. Um, when you get closer to the river, there's a tendency for some of those areas to be really heavy muck soils. When you get a little bit further from the Red River, Lake Castleton, you can find some more loamy soils. They tend to produce a little bit better for the the corn and the sugar beets and and and and beans. So um, so that was naturally attractive to buyers. Um, but you know, when you start talking about 1700 acres and 14 parcels, um, if you were to offer that in as one holdings, your buyer group would be pretty small. Um, even at 14 parcels, the sellers were really, really worried about is there gonna be enough buying power there to pay uh um a good price? Yeah, if our projections were that 14, 15 million dollars, that's a lot. And if you divide that per, you know, a million dollars per quarter or better, a million dollars or over a million dollars per quarter, um, there's still that's that's a that's a smaller fraternity of buyers that can that can that can bid and afford that. And so we had a lot of conversations. Um the sellers were really worried that we're bringing too much land on the market, and I kept assuring them that no, we have the buying power out there. There's a lot of buyers out there that are that are looking and can and can can can uh handle that. And um and they are also curious on how we're gonna handle the hybrid or choice and and what that process is, and what if a couple parcels don't bring what we want, and and and all of that, and you keep reminding them that you know you're looking at the overall average. Um, unfortunately, it went really well. Um, they didn't have very tough decision at all about letting it go. Um, it went well above what they were thinking. So it was it was a it was an exciting day.
SPEAKER_01:It was it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there at the auction, and I think that I consider that to be a historic auction and a historic land auction of in the state of South Dakota. But folks, we're gonna be right back. We're winding down on the second segment of the legacy of agriculture and America's land option, and we're gonna be right back right after the couple. We're back in the third segment of the Legacy of Agriculture. I've got team member and friend Steve Link that uh we are co-hosting America's Land Auctioneer and also the Legacy of Agriculture today. So do we tell Kevin we're doing this?
SPEAKER_00:Uh no, he doesn't need to know. He doesn't need to know.
SPEAKER_01:He can find out what what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? Well, hopefully he listens. If he listens, we're gonna get the phone call, right? So we were we were talking about the Castleton auction,$19 million sale. You sold in 14 different parcels at 1,700 acres. Um tell me about the momentum of that auction and what you were feeling in that room.
SPEAKER_00:You know, so I was expecting a little bit bigger crowd to come in person, um, to be honest with you. Um, and but then after I thought about it um a little bit later, um it was really um a matter of some of the buyers. It was a high pressure situation. If you're gonna spend two, three, four, five million dollars or the nineteen million um dollars um that that ended up happening, it's sometimes easier to do that in a controlled environment. And so our bidding um scenario um auction day is conducive to that. So you can stay at home, you can be at your computer, you can log in, you can see the auctioneer, and you can see where the bid is at, and you can click um, you can click on your computer um or your your or your phone and click the next bid. And that's what I really think I happened there. I talked at length with some other bidders and buyers, and they're like, they were they were trying to decide between staying home and bidding or coming there in person. And um they just said, I you know, I for me to for me to process this is what they told me for me to process my my my my thoughts, um it's gonna be easier if not everybody's looking at me and and such. And so they stayed home and they did bid. They they didn't they weren't the successful bidder, but they they they bid and they bid they bid they bid fairly. And uh, but then there was other people that like to be in the room and like to like to size everything up. But back to your question, um, you know, the fact that the bidder um was hitting um the bids pretty rapid and the people in the room were bidding pretty rapid. Um, it seemed like we went from a low number right through our expected numbers right to where the sale numbers it went really fast, relatively speaking. And so we did all those 14 parcels. I think we were done. Um, boy, it was it wasn't much more than an hour, hour and 20 minutes, which is amazing to have a sale. And and I know it looks easy. I know we talked about this before. It looks easy from the outside when you can do that much volume in an hour, um, but there's a tremendous amount of work leading up to it. Um, and that was the other quick comments that we've had um from the sellers or the questions that they had, you know, how much time do you need? Typically, you can do things in 45 days. I wanted to push this out a little longer, and so we had probably you know three months of of marketing time um so people could um process what they what they wanted and and get their finances in line to to do this. If they had 1031, they could match it up with with that and then timing and such. And so so we gave it a little bit more lead time than then maybe if it's a quarter and an 80, which are all important, um, but you just tend don't need to probably have that much lead time for marketing um on that. So but the momentum and the excitement just grew when the bidding happened. Um and and and the high bidder, if you go back and watch that, um, the high bidder kind of grouped them logically where quarters were touching each other and and went through. And the fact that um the fact that he did that, the sale went went pretty fast.
SPEAKER_01:One thing that really led up to that sale that I noticed as I watched the momentum of the the entirety of it is when you booked that and you had 120 days to get ready for it, you had three or four months to get ready of it, they had a building full of tools and equipment, and you guys sold hundreds and hundreds of lots of everything from hog oilers to low-hour tractors to shovels to anything that you can imagine, and that in and itself, getting all of that sold, getting it getting it cataloged, getting it advertised and marketed, getting it ready while you're getting ready for the real estate auction and pulling off such a nice real estate auction, it took dozens of people to make that happen. It wasn't just it wasn't just one person.
SPEAKER_00:Right, and and and I'm glad you pointed that out because it wasn't uh we had a great team. So what really complicated um this deal from potential buyer prospect is yeah, you're right. So we had the equipment sale, which was 30 days before the land sale. We also had two commercial buildings uh in Castleton that we did those online only. Um, and then there's a house affectionately uh called the Wool Mansion in Castleton that we listed. And so we had four different projects going on at the same time from the same sellers, and so it took a little bit of time, and I actually put up an old school billboard on that property that said the equipment sale is this date and the land sale is this date to try and alleviate some of the questions. It didn't solve all the questions. I got tons of calls, and they wanted to know when that two-bottom plow was gonna be sold out there, which I'm like, really? There's a buyer for that? Um, and so I was kind of excited about there being a buyer for it, but uh um uh on the other hand, I was like, well, I'd I'd rather spend more time on the land than on some of that stuff that's gonna go for relatively a little bit more over than than scrap prices.
SPEAKER_01:There was a Mustang car there. There was sold for that unrestored, not real great condition, 33,000.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there's uh there's there's there's some stories behind it, but yeah, there was uh there was some some vehicles that people really were were attracted to and wanted to uh wanted to purchase and and so you know and and then there was people that showed up to that equipment sale that have been driving by, noticed things, and they just wanted to be there. They didn't have any intention of buying it, but they wanted to see um the place. And um, you know, there's a lot of history to the to that to that farmstead. And um so the fact that and and and Johnny bought a lot of that stuff at auction, not because he needed it, just because it went for too cheap. And so then he bought it, brought it there, and it got resold, and we'll may sell it again for the next buyer, you know, and that's 30 years after you and I retired, they could sell that again, right? Yep, so um so and it and it's crazy with uh with the internet and how bidding can happen, how far away some of this stuff goes, um, you know, and and and um and some of it stayed local. Um, but yeah, I mean even even some of the furniture that was in that house, we sold that that day, and those are that was kind of fun to to sell. You know, there was a little sign that went for you know$300 that I thought was worth you know$30, you know, and so that that that that's just stuff that you don't know that is gonna happen until it happens, and buyers are buyers buyers see value.
SPEAKER_01:You know, it's it's crazy as we come down to the end of our third segment of the legacy of agriculture and and on America's land auctioneer, is is that it I think the bottom line is, Steve, is that auctions are just fun, and I think people look forward to them. Yeah, um, especially live auctions, and I want to get into that just a little bit in our fourth and final segment. But I we do want to give a shout out to Pyro. For Auction Realty for sponsoring both shows. We appreciate Piper Auction Realty and all their hard work and their contributions to the auction industry.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, this is Steve Link with America's Land Auctioneer, broker for Piper's Auction Realty. And we had a little time to fill in. And I just wanted to go over our calendar that is coming up. December 4th, we have a big consignment sale at Sioux Falls. There are two rings you can attend in person or you can go online and bid to your convenience. Stop by our worthy next sit there and take a look at those items and be prepared to bid. And then we, if you're in Williams County and you're looking to lease a little bit of land, we have 155 acres there that's up for lease. And then the upper Midwest December land auction is uh is December 8th. And so that is uh that's gonna be another uh jam-packed line of equipment. Um I want to take special notice on December 9th. We have 480 acres in Logan County. Now that doesn't sound on the surface like that is uh all that exciting, but there are three circle irrigation pivots on that sale on that offering, um, and there is um grain bins on that offering, and so um there's six irrigation wells, three pivots, and uh the the the grain bins at a hundred thousand bushels of capacity. Um I think um this offering really is going to be exciting. Um it's been a long time since we have sold irrigated land in North Dakota, especially circle pivots that are well um that have uh that have irrigation wells um compared to pumping out of the river. Um that is a little bit easier to manage, and this equipment has been upgraded and and it's really in good shape. And so I'm excited to see what that sale will be. Um we're having that with live and at SimuCasted online. Um that is on again December 9th at 10 p.m. It's at our steel um office there in steel. Um, so that'll be an exciting, exciting day. Um, and then after that, we have um a big, big Bowman and Slope counties December 10th, um, 2,531 acres out there. Um, I've talked to Andy at length about this offering. It is really, really exciting. Um, the parcels are big, but out there, um that is what you have to do to farm and ranch. You have to have bigger parcels. So um that's uh that's gonna be a fun day. We're gonna have it uh have it there right at the the Bowman Regional Office. So if um if you so choose, you can come to our steel office, and then the next day you can come to our Bowman office and and and and make the rounds. Um and then December 11th, we're up in uh Minot for 775 acres of Montreal County land and um 1,178 acres in in Ward County. So those will be those will be fantastic offerings as well too. And then uh over to Nelson County for 633 acres and cavalier county for 160 acres. So um just some fantastic offerings. Again, go to Pipers.com and check out all the details, or if you want some free consultation, uh call contact me at 701-361-9985. I'm Steve Link with American Land Auctioneer, Pipers Auctioneer Rail.
SPEAKER_01:Good morning, everybody. Chris Bear, your host of Legacy of Agriculture, and we're racing right into our fourth segment, Steve.
SPEAKER_00:I can't believe it goes by fast, right?
SPEAKER_01:And uh we're we're also recording for America's Land Auctioneer. It's kind of fun. It's kind of interesting how technology allows us to combine things together. In our first three segments, we've talked mostly about two auctions that we've had, one down here in South Dakota, just outside of or that we had in Winter, South Dakota, and a$19 million sale that we had up in Castleton, North Dakota. I can't one of the things that I love about the auction business as an auctioneer, and I don't sell very often, but I do like to sell as an auctioneer, is I absolutely love the pace and the momentum and the energy that goes into these live auctions. Tell me a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, and I think um we have tons and tons of conversations with sellers trying to match their expectations with what the land is gonna sell for.
SPEAKER_01:The market.
SPEAKER_00:The market. Yeah, yeah, and what's the saying? The truest form of price discovery is a well-run auction. And you can say that and and and and you just instill that with the sellers that the just trust the process. You know, we may not set a record, um, we may, but as long as we're not, you know, at the bottom of the market, if we're if we're where it probably would appraise or a little higher, then we've accomplished the goal that everybody has set out for. So again, the truest form of price discovery is a well-run auction. Now, well-run auction isn't easy either. Everybody sees that hour of excitement or half hour of excitement, they see that bidding. But the 45 days, the the the three months prior to that, and all the marketing, make sure you're collecting all the right correct information and getting that out to their prospective buyers. And then running that sale with integrity and honesty is really important. Um, if the bidders and buyers think that there's a bunch of shenanigans going on, well then you're not gonna have a good well-run auction. And so you're you're not gonna find that true, true form of price discovery. And so that's what has been really exciting about this winter sale and the Castleton sale. Um, you know, is the fact that um that they happened in a pace like you were asking about, in a pace that was really intense and ha and fast, and um there was no doubt about it, that the the the the sale um was was honest and then and there was integrity behind it. And we found the we found the actual price of the product. The value of the value.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Yes. And and that's done through a number of different mediums, through marketing for allowing that, giving it what I've always called the crock pot effect, where you s let that piece of land sit out there for 30 or six or usually sixty days or longer, and let people really prepare for that auction and procure their financing, talk to their wife, talk to their family members. Is this a a good solid investment? Because it's very well could be that this land, these these pieces that we have sold might not transact again for another 50 years or 75 or another hundred years. Yep. Because uh if if grandma and grandpa's buying it for the next generation, the next generation, the next generation, it will probably never transact uh in a retail basis for many years.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I had a good conversation with a good friend of mine um just the other day, and he talked about that, and he's like, you know, I can't wait for where he owns, he wants, he wants to buy us a little better land than he has, but he can't wait for the good land to be down in value and the poor land to be up, which may never happen. He has to buy and sell kind of relative at the same at the same time. And so um, and then and then to that point too, if you've been driving by that farm or or such, you have to buy it when it's available, not when the interest rates are low, not when the commodity prices are high, you have to buy it when it's available. Um, and and that's a sad trait. It sounds cold, it sounds mean, but it's just a fact of the matter. Um, and and so you that's that's when it's available, and that's where an auction is a good setting, is because then you can make it available to everybody. And that's the other thing. There's times where I bring a property to market and I totally forgot about you know buyer, buyer X or buyer Z, you know, that I'm like, oh yeah, they are they would be a good fit for that. You know, you just don't think about it until you bring it up to market, and that's that's that's the other beauty of the market. And I and I want to go back to your comments you said last segment about a team effect. That the the equipment team that we have, the land management team we have, the auctioneers that we have, the marketing team we have, it is a full, full company-wide venture on all of this stuff. And so I, you know, it just has off to them. We're not a big group, relatively speaking, for as much land as we move, but we're all specialized and we're all top of our game.
SPEAKER_01:That's one thing that I absolutely love about Pipers, is I could call anybody within the Pipers organization and say, hey, I got a question about this. Bam, bam, bam, bam, and that question gets answered right away. But one thing that I that I want to talk just a little bit about, and we're running out of time, unfortunately, is that and and I and I had a uh Zoom meeting with a family uh it was about 30 days ago, and there were four heirs on this piece of land that that they are considering selling. Those four heirs have never seen that land. They all live back east, Minneapolis. One lives in in South Carolina, another one, I don't remember exactly where they all live, but when they called me and gave me the information, they were reading it off a tax roll and said, we've been receiving rent on this land. Uh what's it worth? I mean, and and and the the comment was is we can look around, but we really don't know what it's worth. So I spent a lot of time putting a proposal together for them and doing the giving them good useful information. But so many of these landowners, absentee landowners now have never stepped foot on this land.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I have I have a number of clients that are like that right now. If you know they kind of know where it's at and they maybe visited once, but if you had them get in their their rental car and drive out to the property, there's no way that they could find it. There is no way they could find it. And I actually, and I don't mind some of those situations, I don't mind teaching them about the different dynamics of it. That's that's that's I I could stand up in front of a room and talk about that all day long, right? Um, or on the radio show and talk about it all day long. Um, but it yeah, it's um it's an interesting dynamic that you're trying to teach them all this stuff and then and then they're gonna sell it. And and but they have that emotional tie for some reason because they have always been getting those tax statements, they've always been getting that rent check and such. And so to let have them let that go is sometimes a tough thing. Um but I also explained to them they can still drive by that quarter and they probably will still call it the Johnson farm or or or the Larson farm or whatever name that they that they may be. Um, and and they'll still refer to it as that. So there is that there is that side of it.
SPEAKER_01:As we come down into the last uh minute and a half of the show, Steve, what is it that you would like to tell our listeners about the land auction business?
SPEAKER_00:Oh boy. Um, you know, I think um it's it is tough to predict. Right now, the market should not be where it's at if you look at the soybean prices, the corn prices, um, interest rates, and things like that. Now, conversely, cattle prices are really, really good. That's a shining spot on it. Um but you know, it's it's it it's it's you cannot predict. And so if you are thinking about selling, you should probably um consider doing it sooner rather than later, because the market seems like right now it's responded really well to us bringing good property to the market.
SPEAKER_01:And there are buyers, there's no question about it. There's the there's the buyers that are gonna buy the$500,000 piece, and there's buyers out there for the$25,000 piece. And I and I think that that's really important for those that are listening to these shows and these podcasts to know is don't don't discount the volume of money that it'll take to buy because there are buyers out there for that.
SPEAKER_00:And I've talked about that in the past, especially you look at every township, and we all know you look at the names of the landowners that are there, and they're like, Yeah, they could probably write a check for another quarter, they could probably write another check for another quarter. And so there's always in in every market there's there's a there's a strong contingency of buyers.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Well, Steve, thank you very much as we come down to the end of America's Land Auctioneer and also of the Legacy of Agriculture. It's been a great show. Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you at the next land auction.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. This is Steve Link. As we close out today's show, I want to thank Chris Bear for jointly hosting this radio show. It's always a pleasure to spend time with him, and Legacy of Agriculture is a great show if you get a chance to listen to the past episodes. I think you'll really enjoy it. And I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. Make sure you're traveling safe and spending time with the outdoors and enjoying your family and friends. And uh again, if you need any help guarding my buying or selling or holding the line called 01361995.