Heartland Ag Group

What Heartland Ag Group does

Heartland Ag Group, Ltd. is a privately held agricultural professional services firm headquartered in Forsyth, Illinois, founded in 1993 by Dale Aupperle. The firm delivers a multi-line service stack to landowners, investors, and farmers across Central Illinois: farm management (lease administration, financial and operational oversight of farmland assets), real estate appraisals conducted by state-certified general appraisers, farm real estate brokerage, and a broad agricultural business consulting practice that covers lease evaluations, undivided interest pooling, tax-deferred exchanges, wind energy advisory, drainage and capital improvements, financial and estate planning, grain marketing, business expansion, specialty crops, and litigation support. The firm is complemented by the Farmland Barometer, a recurring market intelligence publication for Illinois farmland values, and a website-based listings channel for farms for sale.

The business is built on credentialed expertise rather than proprietary technology. Leadership holds the Accredited Farm Manager (AFM) and Accredited Rural Appraiser (ARA) designations, and the firm maintains active membership in the Illinois and American Societies of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The firm operates a relational database of Illinois farmland sale information maintained in-house, which underpins appraisal accuracy and the Barometer publication. There are no disclosed software products, mobile applications, APIs, AI/ML systems, patents, or external integrations; technology is limited to standard internal databases and a content website.

Revenue is generated through professional-services fees for ongoing management and consulting engagements, per-engagement appraisal fees, and transaction-based commissions on real estate sales. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with the firm describing its rates as "reasonable" and delivered on prompt turnaround. The firm serves three primary personas — landowners, investors (including group/undivided interest pools), and farmers — entirely through direct, relationship-driven engagement from its single Forsyth office, with no intermediated distribution channel. Heartland Ag Group is owner-operated, has never raised external capital, and operates with a small professional and administrative team of approximately eight to nine people.

Name

Heartland Ag Group

Legal name

Heartland Ag Group Ltd.

Website

https://heartlandaggroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Heartland Ag Group is a privately held, Forsyth, Illinois-based agricultural professional services firm founded in 1993 that provides farm management, real estate appraisal, farm brokerage, and business consulting to landowners, investors, and farmers across Central Illinois.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Forsyth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Farm Management Services: Ongoing farm management services for landowners and investors including lease evaluations, financial planning, and operational oversight of farmland assets.
2. Real Estate Appraisals: Agricultural property appraisals conducted by certified appraisers including state certified general real estate appraisers.
3. Real Estate Sales: Farm real estate sales and transactions including farms listed for sale and investment property sales.
4. Consulting Services: Advisory services including lease evaluations, tax deferred exchanges, wind energy, capital improvements, drainage improvements, financial planning, estate planning, grain marketing, business expansion, specialty crops, and litigation support. Fees described as reasonable.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Heartland Ag Group provides professional farm management, agricultural business consulting, farmland investment advisory, and certified real estate appraisal services to landowners, investors, and farmers in Central Illinois. The firm delivers expertise across the full farmland ownership lifecycle—from acquisition and lease evaluation to ongoing management, capital improvements, and disposition. Services also include farm real estate brokerage for buyers and sellers of Illinois farmland.

Product overview

Heartland Ag Group offers a comprehensive suite of agricultural professional services built around six core offerings: Farm Management Services for landowners seeking to maximize their farmland investment returns through professional oversight, lease management, and conservation; Agricultural Business Consulting providing specialized advisory services including lease evaluations, tax deferred exchanges, wind energy project guidance, drainage improvements, financial planning, precision farming, estate planning, grain marketing, and business expansion; Farmland Investment Services for investors looking to allocate capital to agricultural assets; Real Estate Appraisal Services with certified appraisers maintaining extensive Illinois farmland sales databases; Farm Real Estate for Sale listings; and the Farmland Barometer research publication delivering market intelligence on farmland values. These services are interconnected, allowing the firm to manage farmland, appraise its value, facilitate transactions, and provide ongoing consulting across the entire farmland investment lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farm Management Services Professional oversight and management of farmland assets including value assessment, lease management, conservation, and profit optimization for landowners throughout Central Illinois.
• Agricultural Business Consulting Advisory services covering lease evaluations, undivided interest investments, tax deferred exchanges, wind energy projects, capital improvements, drainage improvements, financial planning, estate planning, grain marketing, and business expansion for agricultural operations.
• Farmland Investment Services Expert guidance for investors seeking to allocate capital to farmland assets, including assistance with pooled investment groups, undivided interest arrangements, and farmland acquisition decisions.
• Real Estate Appraisal Services Professional agricultural property valuation services provided by state certified general real estate appraisers, supported by an extensive database of Illinois farmland sales.
• Farm Real Estate Brokerage Farmland listings marketed to buyers with detailed property information and downloadable PDF property reports, including transactions such as the James Rolewicz Farm in Moultrie County, Illinois.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Peoples Company: National farmland management, brokerage, appraisal, and investment advisory firm serving landowners and institutional investors across the U.S. Overlaps directly with Heartland's farm management, appraisal, and farmland real estate services, with a comparable target customer base of landowners and farmland investors.
• Murray Wise Associates: Champaign, Illinois-based farmland investment, brokerage, and auction firm with national reach. Directly comparable to Heartland's farmland investment advisory and real estate sales offerings, particularly for investor and institutional clients seeking pooled farmland exposure.
• Farmers National Company: Large U.S. farm and ranch management, real estate, and appraisal firm serving landowners and investors across multiple states. Directly comparable to Heartland in the integrated farm management, real estate sales, and appraisal model, but at substantially larger national scale.
• Hertz Farm Management: One of the largest professional farm management and real estate firms in the Midwest, offering farm management, farmland sales, and acquisitions across multiple states. Directly comparable to Heartland in core service mix (management, brokerage, appraisals) and customer base (landowners and investors), but at meaningfully larger geographic and headcount scale.
• Halderman Real Estate & Farm Management: Midwest-based professional farm management, real estate brokerage, and appraisal firm serving landowners and investors across Indiana, Illinois, and surrounding states. Closely mirrors Heartland's integrated service model and central-Illinois-adjacent geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Farmland Partners: Publicly traded farmland REIT that owns and manages a large portfolio of U.S. farmland. Operates as a large institutional acquirer/manager in the same asset class Heartland advises on, shaping pricing benchmarks and providing an alternative path for landowners considering sale or lease to an institutional operator.
• 1st Farm Credit Services: Farm Credit System lender serving farmers and agribusinesses across Illinois with financing, appraisal, and related services. Overlaps with Heartland in serving Central Illinois agricultural customers and in providing farmland valuation insight, though primarily as a lender rather than a manager/broker.

Emerging players

• AcreTrader: Online farmland investment platform that enables investors to buy fractional interests in farmland and connects them with vetted operators. Competes with Heartland for investor mindshare on farmland allocation and introduces a digital distribution model that challenges traditional relationship-based farm management firms.

Regional players

• Capital Agricultural Property Services (Busey): Farm management and ag real estate services arm affiliated with Busey Bank, operating across Illinois and adjacent states. Comparable to Heartland in farm management and farmland real estate offerings, with the added backing of a regional bank balance sheet.
• Soy Capital Ag Services: Central Illinois-based agricultural services firm providing farm management, real estate, and appraisal services. Operates in the same geography as Heartland with a closely overlapping service portfolio, making it a head-to-head regional competitor for Central Illinois landowners.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heartland Ag Group