US farmland values have been on a tear for the last year and half, increasing at rates not seen since 2011 – 2012, when drought and short supplies drove agricultural commodity prices to new highs. The current run up in prices has numerous drivers, including drought last year in the EU and China, drought in the US and China this year, war in Ukraine disrupting grain shipments in the Black Sea, and, not least, monetary inflation hitting numbers not seen since the early 1980’s.
Read MoreThe late rains moved the 2022 inventory from having the second lowest peak since the mid 1960’s to maintaining a higher daily inventory than the previous nine driest
Read MoreWe are excited to announce the addition of our new Delta Regional Director, Addison Taylor, to the Scythe and Spade family.
Read MoreHow is risk tied to compensation in the agricultural real estate and investment world? At Scythe and Spade, we like to develop long-lasting relationships with our clients that are built on experience, trust, and accountability. This enables us to partner with our clients under several alternative compensation approaches which share the risks and rewards, reveal and resolve issues up front, and ultimately speed up the entire process while achieving the clients selling or purchasing objectives.
Read MoreAddressing Climate Change may be necessary, but those charged with creating Policy must take into consideration all of the potential impacts, not only on the farmers and ranchers but also on the human population that relies on food, fiber, and fuel from them.
Read MoreThe markets for farmland derived carbon credits is in its infancy with wildly varying contract terms, is a long way from consistency, and may not survive over the long term.
Read MoreLower than average snowpack in the mountains of eastern Idaho and northwestern Wyoming following a drought year in 2021 means reduced water available for irrigation in central and eastern Idaho and parts of western Oregon.
Read MoreLower than average snowpack in the mountains of eastern Idaho and northwestern Wyoming following a drought year in 2021 means reduced water available for irrigation in central and eastern Idaho and parts of western Oregon.
Read MoreAt Scythe & Spade, Challenging the Status Quo is a differentiator, a disrupter. We are a small company, competing with much larger competitors. But we see that as a competitive advantage, allowing us to change faster than our competition, being on version 10.1 when everyone else is trying to figure out version 4.2.
Read MoreWe are excited to announce the addition of our new West Coast Regional Manager, Brent Reed, to the Scythe and Spade family.
Read MoreAs a grower or investor in farmland, your eyes may glaze over at the dizzying array of "smart" new technology products that claim to enhance your farming operation with better yields, less input costs and improved use of irrigation infrastructure. Each year a new company launches another satellite or a constellation of satellites that can be your eyes in the sky and can help you monitor your farming operation. You may have signed up with a current vendor and received imagery that show each of your fields. This type of service can be very helpful, but you may find yourself spending a lot of time pouring over daily or weekly digital snapshots of your fields.
Read MoreIdaho, along with the Pacific Northwest and most western states are currently suffering from drought. In an effort at Scythe & Spade to put the current severity of the drought in context, as well as understand the current and future implications of irrigation water availability on a district-by-district basis, we have begun a deep dive into a very rich historical data sets.
Read MoreHave you noticed that soy oil is trading at nearly twice the price of one year ago? The start of the runup in soybean prices in the fall of 2020 was mainly driven by higher demand for the soybeans and meal as purchases from China skyrocketed. Since spring, however, the continued rise in soy and other vegetable oils has been for the oil themselves.
Read MoreIdaho, along with the Pacific Northwest and most western states are currently suffering from drought. In an effort at Scythe & Spade to put the current severity of the drought in context, as well as understand the current and future implications of irrigation water availability on a district-by-district basis, we have begun a deep dive into a very rich historical data sets.
Read MoreOur entire leadership team is very excited to continue to build and grow in a way that elevates the experience of our clients. In response to our growth, we are pleased to announce a new member to our team.
Read MoreThere is a lot of debate on whether carbon sequestered in the land should be considered real or personal property. In real estate, personal property is usually defined as being movable whereas real property includes the land, physical improvements, and rights of ownership commonly referred to as a “bundle of rights”. This bundle of rights includes the right of disposition, right of enjoyment, right to exclude others, right of possession, and right of control. However, an open question is should carbon stored in the soil be considered a natural resource for contractual and property rights consideration?
Read MoreUsually when selling a farm, one discusses comparable values of other farms in the area, and as a result, most acreage is valued close to others in the region. However, when considering a sale, owners should ask themselves “Do we have a farm asset or a going concern (i.e., an operating business)?”
Read MoreOn March 15, 2021, the USDA announced a 45-day public comment period to gather input on its climate smart agriculture and forestry strategy. This is in response to a recent Executive Order which mentioned that farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners could play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration and other sustainable practices such as producing biproducts and biofuels.
Read MoreThe dramatic increase in corn, soy and other grain & commodity prices driven by the drastic increase in Chinese purchases since late summer/fall of 2020 will almost certainly hold for most of those crops through to at least mid-2022. Why? Barring a complete crash in exports or record acres and yields for both corn and soybeans, it will take at least two crop cycles to rebuild US inventories for those two crops, and when stressed, they provide the price and income for which all others must compete for acres.
Read MoreEver sat in a meeting and wondered, "is this really worth my time?” Meetings are often characterized as one of the most painful events and yet they provide underestimated opportunities for efficiency gains in running a business.
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