For ag lenders
The documented, sourced read that supports a farm file, under your bank's brand.
This is about the small farm files, not the big ones. Below the federal appraisal threshold, you can support the credit decision with an evaluation. Land Scout Pro produces that record in minutes, sourced from six federal systems, with the agency and the date next to every figure, ready for the credit file.
Opens Q1 2027
Land Scout Pro opens Q1 2027. Join the waitlist and we will onboard you personally. Until then, the free parcel read and the $89 Decision Report work today.
Analyze a parcel free
$99 a month at launch, or $990 a year. First seat included, plus $49 a month for each additional lender.
Design-partner pilot
A 90-day design-partner pilot on Ohio and Indiana farm real-estate parcels, priced by conversation.
For Farm Credit associations, community ag banks and farm-management firms. See where we cover parcels.
Included today
- A cited briefing for each parcel, with the agency and the read date next to every figure.
- The USDA NASS county cash-rent average, printed with its survey year.
- FEMA flood zones, USFWS wetlands and USDA soils, plus the tile-drainage tier, labeled as modeled.
- Indiana only: recorded farmland sales from the state Sales Disclosure File, in the report.
On the roadmap
- Reports under your institution's name, borrower folders and CSV export, which come with Land Scout Pro.
What we ask
- A named contact at your institution.
- Three feedback sessions during the 90 days.
- Permission to describe the pilot without naming your institution.
Price
By conversation.
The sub-threshold file that is not worth an appraisal, but still needs a defensible number
On a small farm loan, ordering a full appraisal can cost more time and money than the file justifies. The rule lets you support the decision with an evaluation instead. The hard part is assembling one: the soil survey, the flood map, the wetlands layer, the county cash rent table, the program eligibility, each in its own federal system, then retyping it into the file and hoping nothing was transposed.
The evaluation rule, stated correctly
A bank regulated by the OCC, the Federal Reserve or the FDIC may support a credit decision with an evaluation rather than a full appraisal on a commercial real estate transaction at or under $500,000 (12 CFR 34.43, 12 CFR 225.63, 12 CFR 323.3, raised from $250,000 effective April 9, 2018). Farmland loans repaid primarily from the farm business often fall under the separate $1 million qualifying business loan exemption instead.
Two things worth stating plainly. Transaction value generally means the loan amount, not the property value. And the rule substitutes an evaluation for an appraisal; it does not remove the valuation requirement.
The Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines set out what an evaluation must contain: identify the location, describe the property and its current and projected use, describe the analysis performed and the supporting information used, and indicate all sources of information used. The Guidelines say the evaluation must be documented in the credit file or reproducible. A documented, reproducible record is what the file needs, and a generated PDF is a clean way to provide one.
If you lend under Farm Credit
Farm Credit System institutions are a different regime, regulated by the FCA rather than FIRREA, and the thresholds differ. Under 12 CFR 614.4260 a state licensed or certified appraiser is required above $250,000 and a state certified appraiser above $1,000,000. If you lend under Farm Credit, use those numbers, not the bank thresholds above.
What a Pro report puts in the file
Six sources, with provenance
Address in or boundary drawn, and it assembles USDA SSURGO soil and productivity, USDA NASS county cash rent, FEMA flood, USFWS wetlands, USGS water, and NREL solar, with the agency and the vintage next to every figure.
The income basis, not just a soil map
It lays out what those acres return under row crop, cash rent, conservation, or an energy lease, side by side in dollars per acre, so the file shows the income basis behind the collateral.
Under your bank's brand
The report comes out under your bank name and logo. Client folders group parcels by borrower, so the file is where you left it at renewal.
Modeled figures labeled modeled
The energy and program figures are benchmark ranges, not signed offers, and the report says so on the page. What goes in the file is a realistic range, not a projection you have to defend.
The honest boundary
Land Scout Pro is not an appraisal and we do not present it as one. It does not produce an opinion of value. It is a documented, sourced read that supports the file, with the modeled figures labeled as modeled.
How we handle data
Scout reads the public federal record for each parcel and prints the source and the read date on every figure (how we get our numbers). We do not sell, rent, or otherwise share personal data outside the processors named in our privacy policy.
Part of Land Scout Pro
Questions ag lenders ask
- Does this replace an appraisal?
- No. Land Scout Pro is not an appraisal and does not produce an opinion of value. It assembles the documented, sourced read that supports a file below the appraisal threshold, or wherever your policy allows an evaluation. Where an appraisal is required, you still order one.
- Which threshold applies to us?
- If you are regulated by the OCC, the Federal Reserve or the FDIC, the commercial real estate appraisal threshold is $500,000, with a separate $1 million qualifying business loan exemption that many farm loans use. Farm Credit System lenders operate under the FCA under 12 CFR 614.4260, which requires a state licensed or certified appraiser above $250,000 and a state certified appraiser above $1,000,000. Confirm your own regulator and policy.
- Where does the data come from?
- Six federal sources per parcel: USDA SSURGO soil and productivity, USDA NASS county cash rent, FEMA flood, USFWS wetlands, USGS water, and NREL solar. Every figure shows the agency it came from and the date, and modeled figures are labeled as modeled. See how we get our numbers for the full sourcing.
- What does it cost?
- Land Scout Pro opens Q1 2027 at $99 a month, or $990 a year, at launch; the first seat is included, plus $49 a month for each additional lender. Reports come out under your bank name and logo, and parcels group into folders by borrower.
Run a file you already closed
Put in one address off a closed farm loan and check what Scout returns against what you concluded. It takes about a minute, and it is the fastest way to judge whether this belongs in your process.