Hopefully soon we will be able to return to what we consider to be normal land marketing, that being a public auction where we invite all those interested to attend. In the interval, we have had the opportunity of recently selling 208 acres here in East Central Illinois, offering the property in three separate tracts [...]

It’s been a surreal world for the past few months with the coronavirus impacting our lives in many unexpected ways since the beginning of 2020. While the pandemic has certainly affected us on a personal level, it has also had a large and broad effect on the agricultural industry. Besides the meat industry, ethanol has [...]

There are a lot of moving parts in the meat industry and nearly everyone in the supply chain is being affected, or eventually will be affected, from farmers to meat packers to the consumer. On May 5th, HyVee announced that they would be limiting meat purchases to 4 packages per shopper (HyVee press release). This [...]

Champaign, IL, April 16, 2020 – The farm real estate market in Champaign County remains promising.  Most recently Murray Wise Associates was responsible for the sale of approximately 208 acres in western Champaign County just northwest of Mahomet. The property brought a total price of $2,001,100 or $9,621 per acre. The farm, offered for sale [...]

“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting!” A quote often attributed to Mark Twain has rung true in California, a state famous for its “water wars,” for more than a century. Today, when reading about the water situation in California, you are likely to see the Westlands Water District mentioned. This is no surprise [...]

A wet spring in the Midwest in 2019 has made drainage a focal point for many farmland owners. Water is vital to agricultural production. When a crop receives too little or too much of this resource, its productivity is negatively impacted. Water management solutions promote soil health and provide plants with optimal growing conditions. The [...]

The American Farm Bureau Federation reported in October that farm bankruptcies (Chapter 12) were up 24 percent in the 12-month period ending September 2019 from the previous period. This statistic made a number of headlines, usually in tandem with a mention of the trade war and tariffs on grains. This may have made many readers [...]

MWA Auctions and Real Estate had an active December, auctioning farms in four different Illinois counties, that all varied in terms of soil quality.  On December 3rd, 100 acres was auctioned in Gifford, IL with Class “B/C” soils (121 weighted average PI) bringing $9,150/Acre. This is a strong price for a mid-tier farm and this [...]

By Dr. Scott Irwin The story of grain prices in 2019 largely revolved around demand weakness and weather problems here in the U.S. Corn Belt. The most prominent negative demand factor weighing on the markets was the trade war with China. There was some optimism through the winter and spring that a trade deal could [...]