Steve Bruere, soft-spoken and steady in his ways now that he is 35 years and 1 day old, probably is not a big subscriber to conspiracy of circumstances theories. On the other hand, he says current events are leading to interesting times for his agriculture real estate business.

Bruere is the president of Clive-based Peoples Co. He was a 20-something barely out of college when he launched the Land Investment Expo, in part to draw attention to his company, but also to take on the big issues confronting agriculture and farmland. The ninth edition of the Land Investment Expo is going on today at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel.

Around 650 investors, farmers, bankers, lawyers and others with an interest in farmland in Iowa and beyond are attending. Some of the them will hear about farming opportunities in Brazil; others will get a heads-up on marijuana farming.

There are big and controversial issues in farm country these days. Factor in the drama surrounding the upcoming Iowa caucuses and it all adds up to what Bruere said will be one of the most interesting sessions since he launched the event. We should add that it is probably too late to get in on the fun. The event was nearly sold out Wednesday with a scant 10 or 15 tickets remaining, he said.

“From top to bottom this is the best year we’ve had yet,” he said.

Water quality, the environment, sustainable farming practices, land fertility and a flagging agriculture economy add up to challenging times.

“We didn’t intentionally set out to do anything different, but that’s just the way it came together,” Bruere said.

Two political types who will attend are James Carville and Mary Matalin, the ultimate insider political power couple, as the marketing would have it. They are the keynote speakers.

Gov. Terry Branstad, Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack have asked to speak, and Bruere won’t say no.

It is not known whether any presidential candidates will attend — Bruere won’t give them a spot on the main stage, but he will allow them to mill about the hotel’s conference center — but he has found himself in the middle of a spat between Republican contender Donald Trump and conservative Republican activist Bob Vander Plaats. This is another story altogether, but it does result from Trump attending last year’s Land Investment Expo, with Vander Plaats acting as the intermediary who got him there. A Twitter dust-up has been going on since Vander Plaats recently announced that he would endorse Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination.

As if political intrigue weren’t enough, Bruere also has invited a marijuana farmer to preside over one 10 breakout sessions, all in the name of finding another agricultural commodity.

“It’s a little off the wall, but that’s what we have tried to do with the event,” Bruere said. “Like it or not, (marijuana farming) has become more of a reality in our world.”

Big data also has become a reality in farm country. Bruere unveiled a new website, whatsmyfarmworth.com, today that allows owners to determine the value of their farms. Land values are based on historical productivity, market-based revenue opportunities and standard operating cost profiles. The map-based site also uses location, soil types and other statistics from public sources, and it allows users to zoom in on a farm, identify field boundaries and download reports The free service is available beginning Friday in each of the 14 states where Peoples Co. holds a real estate license. The website is a joint effort of Peoples Co. and Agsolver