Business > Business People > A Conversation With/5 Questions

Posted on Sun, Nov. 01, 2009

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A conversation with John Rupp

BY BILL WILSON

The Wichita Eagle

John Rupp and his father, Terry, have two distinct relationships.

There's the obvious relationship between father and son. And there's a business partnership between the two, who lead the J.P. Weigand & Sons agricultural land marketing effort.

Rupp, 29, has been selling ag land for seven years, and he wouldn't change a thing about his career.

"It's been a lot of fun," Rupp said. "I've always had a very good relationship with my father. Before, it was more of the standard father-son thing, but now we're more business partners than just father-son.

"I'd say this is the best decision I've ever made in my life. I've gained experience in deals that I never would have gotten at the age I am, and I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of really good people."

Assess the current market for agricultural land.

"The agricultural prices have actually hung in there decently compared to some of the other things in the economy.

"The prices are probably down a little bit, but they're down from all-time highs. And if you compare that to where they were five years ago, they're still in a pretty good place and the per-acre prices are still pretty strong.

Who's buying ag land today?

"We still have the same set of buyers. You have your in-town investors who are interested in adding land as an investment to part of their portfolio.

"You still have the recreational buyer who is looking for a place to get out and hunt.

"The out-of-state buyer is part of the recreational buyer, and they're probably not as present as they were, but they're still there. The numbers aren't quite as high.

"And we're starting to actually see some of the farmers and ranchers come back into the game a little bit. They were out of the picture a little bit when the prices were up there, but we've had some recent sales with ranchers coming in."

What has enabled the farmers and ranchers to return to the market besides price?

"I think their input costs that go into it from their daily operation. But I think they're more affected by the per-acre price than anything.

"I just think that from the farming or ranching aspect, those guys know what they're willing to pay for land and when it's at that point they'll come into the game and when it's not, they stay out."

What are some of the challenges facing the ag land industry?

"We never really ran into the financing turmoil on land, and the reason for that is it never got out of whack like some of the other lending practices.

"Typically in the land business, you've always had to have 20 percent down and the checks and balances have always been in place from the lending side, so from that side of the fence we haven't run into too many problems.

"We've actually also run into quite a few cash deals on the land side. It has stayed the course and didn't get too crazy.

"The biggest challenge probably right now is we have the buyers. It's just getting the sellers to readjust to the current market. Some sellers are stuck in the two-years-ago time frame, price-wise. You saw some of the prices reached two or three years ago and that was great, but it has come down a bit so our biggest challenge is getting sellers into the right mindframe of today's market and the prices."

Do you do more business with investors, recreation, farming and ranching?

"You know, really, we try to cover all of it.

"I don't know if right now there's one that's more active. There's a pretty good balance of buyers.

"Recently, within the past six months, we've had some of the ranchers and farmers come into play."

Will investors pull back as the stock market stabilizes?

"The investors are still interested in land. I think a lot of people are scared about inflation in the future, and land has always been a good hedge against inflation, so I think that keeps them interested in the property and having land to diversify."

Did you grow up observing this industry?

"We came from western Kansas. We were in Hays, Kansas, and we moved to Wichita and my dad came to work for Weigand when I was going into my sophomore year in high school.

"Ever since we moved to Wichita, I was at an age when I paid attention to things a little bit more and so I've been around real estate on the commercial side, the farm and ranch side.

"The summer after my senior year in high school I worked as a runner here, and that gave me some more exposure.

"Throughout college when I would come home on breaks I'd meet with Nestor (company chairman Weigand) and just talk to him a little bit.

"He's just a very encouraging person, as far as the aspects of the real estate business that are positive and the opportunities that are there, and he gave me a great opportunity young to come back and work for Weigand and with my father, which has been the biggest opportunity for me."

Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or bwilson@wichitaeagle.com.