MWA: Murray Wise Associates

News & Insights

BY BEN CROSBY President, Crosby & Associates Murray Wise and I have been marketing land together for 23 years, and if there’s anything we’ve learned in all that time, it is that demand for land can be affected by numerous factors that may not always be obvious. And right now, the Florida land market is [...]

I’ve had a number of conversations recently with farmers, farmland investors, bankers and others who have been trying to interpret the recent surveys of farmland prices. And I’ll have to admit, we’ve all been doing some serious head scratching. The USDA’s Land Values 2014 Summary, released in early August, shows 2013-2014 cropland values in the [...]

A Very Special Evening

As I mentioned recently, I hesitated to write anything more about my great honor in being named the 2014 recipient of the V. Dale Cozad Entrepreneur Award. Truthfully, it seemed immodest to do so. But the event itself was so remarkable, reflecting the hard work of so many people, that gratitude compels one more post, [...]

It isn’t every day that your Congressman takes the podium to recognize your achievements on the floor of the House of Representatives. So it was one of the proudest moments of my life when U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis rose to say a few words about my receiving Parkland College’s V. Dale Cozad Entrepreneur of the Year.

From the beginning of my career in agriculture, I’ve preached quality. Productive land with quality soils, good drainage and a good location will tend to be a sounder investment in all types of markets. It isn’t the only factor, to be sure. There are farmers and investors who have made good income and profits in [...]

Every year, Illinois Public Media and WILLAg.org bring together some of the Midwest’s most influential landowners for an all-day Ag Outlook Meeting, and it was my pleasure to join them recently. Todd Gleason and the other good folks at WILLAg.org did a great job on the event and were kind enough to get a video [...]

Weak commodity prices. Concerns about falling farm income. Unsettled world grain markets. Uncertainty all around. It’s my favorite kind of market. The kind where the marketplace presents challenges and those of us who market farmland have to earn our keep. When a job is easy, people get the idea that anybody can do it. And [...]

As I write this, China has just rejected two cargoes of DDGs from the United States after detecting MIR 162 – a GMO species not yet approved for import into China. According to various reports, the world’s largest corn importer has turned away 665,000 metric tons of corn since November because of the issue. To [...]

At last, we’re seeing signs that the bull market for farmland might be taking a breather. Over the past few months, we’ve seen prices in many areas begin to flatten, especially compared to the dramatic rises we’ve seen for three years. Over a 12-month period, the numbers are still impressive. For example, the Chicago Fed’s [...]

In all my long career, I’ve never been more proud of an effort. Last week, we finished a series of seven auctions on a bankruptcy project so complicated that nobody dared dream of such an outcome: Approximately $75 million recovered for the creditors. This has been a very long journey that began in the summer [...]