The Land Report

Fall 2016

The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.

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FA L L 2 0 1 6 | The LandReport 53 LANDREPORT.COM F eeding the world has been very good to Iowa. Remember the Great Reces- sion? Iowans don't. While the rest of the country was drowning in toxic mortgages, the price of an acre of good farmland just kept on climbing up. In fact, since 2000, the best Iowa farmland has tripled in value. How do I know this? Because over the past decade, I've bought and sold more than $200 million in Iowa farmland assets for clients. During that time, I've had the privilege of working for some of the very best in the business, including Randy Hertz at Hertz Farm Management and Bruce Rastetter at Summit Agricultural Group. What a great way to build on my background at our farm and my double major in agricultural studies and agronomy from ISU. Today, I'm a Land Investment Specialist with Peoples Company, which started as the farm management department of Peoples Trust and Savings Bank in Indianola and is now a leader in land brokerage, management, investment, and appraisal services throughout the Midwest. The story of how I hooked up with Peoples is a perfect example of the strange twists and turns my life has been taking since Lori got me on The Bachelorette. Next February marks the tenth anniversary of the Land Investment Expo. It's an event that the Peoples Company hosts in Des Moines in the dead of winter. Everyone who has ties to farming is there. The first reason is because Steve Bruere and Peoples Company put on a great event. The second reason is because all the farmland in the Midwest is frozen solid. (Smart move, Steve.) Boone Pickens has been a keynote speaker. So have James Carville and Mary Matalin. A couple of years ago, it was Donald Trump's turn. He wasn't running for president then. He was just being Donald Trump, which is an event in itself. I had just finished being on The Bachelor, and before I knew it, we were intro- duced. Donald asked me a few questions about my background, and when he gathered that I had a lot of experience in ag investing, he turned to Steve. "You should hire this guy," Donald said. Coming from someone who has fired as many people as Donald has, I considered it high praise. On top of that, I've watched Steve grow his company from a small local firm to a major player in the farmland industry. In fact, I began my brokerage career at Total Realty, which is now a part of Peoples. I like the culture of the company and the way they conduct business. "T "To be able to b "To be able to bl "To be able to watch a plant grow is a rewarding business ." — Chris Soules

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