The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 43

IKSIDE SECTION Copyright 1987, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company Classifieds 9F Country Living 2F Commodities 2F Stock Listings 4F May 31, 1987 JIM LAWLESS Sunbay ftcctistcr ran faa liin Ul is Cipf MM Investor's Memo REGISTER PHOTO BY BOB MODERSOHN Grundy County property sales typify the new Iowa land rush A professional look at biotech Stock analyst Stuart Weisbrod has what it takes to understand the biotechnology industry. He has a PhD. Second of two articles County land sale from January 1986 through March 1987 shows that land is selling again, to farmers and non-farmers alike. "This is a time of great opportunity," observed former U.S. Representative Cooper Evans, now back farming on his Grundy County land.

"It's a period when everybody is down on agriculture and, being somei hing of a contrarian in nature and looking at the longer-term, 1 think today i prices are very reasonable. By JERRY PERKINS Register Agribusiness Writer GRUNDY CENTER, IA. Driving down the blacktop road just east of the stolid Colfax Center Presbyterian Church near here, farmer Dennis Hook points out of his pickup truck window to a flat piece of Grundy County farmland almost as black as the pavement. "That land brought $3,980 an acre back in the wild days of the early '80s," says Hook. "A lot of this land around here ran up that high back then." Since those "wild" days of booming land prices, Grundy County farmland prices have dropped by as much as 60 percent as the tide of inflation rolled out.

The lower land prices left many buyers of the high-priced land as exposed as barnacles on a rock. Dennis Hook, 50, wasn't buying much land back then. He is now. Hook purchased 40 acres just a mile and a half from where he and his wife have lived since 1972. He paid $1,000 an acre, putting just $200 down and agreeing to pay $3,800 on March 1 this year plus $1,800 on each succeeding March 1 through 2007.

No one keeps a statewide record of Iowa land sales. But Grundy County, with soil as rich as its land prices once were, is typical of what is happening across the state. Study Of Purchases A Des Moines Sunday Register study of every "arms-length" Grundy "I have no intention of acquiring a huge amount of farmland, but this period may be remembered as one of the few periods when it was economical to buy," Evans said. Hook's purchase doesn't mean another farmer is pushed off the land. He had rented the land from his aunt and uncle since 1981.

"It's good land," he said. "We got 160 bushels of corn an acre off it last year. Of course, last year was a good year for corn." Brings Son Into Farming Hook's decision to buy was tied to another major family decision. At a time when many have left farming, Hook is bringing his son, Bryon, into the farming operation. Bryon.

23, is eager to join his father's FARMLAND Weisbrod rates the investment I worth of biotech stocks for Prudential-Bache Securities of New York City. He said in an interview in New York City last fall that he arrived at Prudential-Bache after spending 10 years "on the bench" in the research lab as a scientist for a small biotech company. Now, as a securities analyst, Weisbrod said that he raises some eyebrows when he visits biotech companies. "The first person I want to see is not the CEO, or the Treasurer," he said. "I always ask for the scientist in charge." Since our visit last fall, Weisbrod has questioned dozens of lead scientists and produced his first quarterly update of biotechnology companies for Prudential-Bache.

He concluded in the report, released late last month, that he is generally bearish on the group because most of their stock prices have risen too far too fast. Of 16 companies that he investigated, he found only one clear-cut "buy" Amgen Corp. for near- and long-term appreciation. The 16 biotech companies were rated by Weisbrod on the following criteria: How good is management? This rating looks at experience as well as at fundamental understanding of the industry. How good is the company's science? Top grades go to companies with experience in scale-up, formulation, clinical trials and basic research.

What is the risk of substitution or obsolescence for the company's products? This is a qualitative assessment of the speed with which the science is moving within the company's major market. Can the company be barred from its target market by patents? Strong patent protection is essential for the survival of the industry, but some companies might be barred from products in which they have invested Please turn to Page 3F REGISTER CHART BY LOREN DOPPENBERG 1 Grundy County farmland sales Grundy 1 County 1 "V- axmcE: Landowner newsletter and Grundy County Assessor 4 r- 4 '81 'B2 SS'SeS-Be'e? 'First three months Dennis Hook checks oat bis land from atop a tractor. Hook recently purchased 40 acres in Grundy County. Former lowan is caught in a dogfight as chief of beleaguered Denver airport Texas may land Heritage TV, radio company heavily. How fully integrated is the company? Many of the biotech companies are relying heavily on the pharmaceutical industry to both usher their products through the Food and Drug Administration and market them.

If a product is large enough for the biotech firm but turns out to be too small for the drug firms, it could be cut off. How vulnerable is the company to future competition from a larger company? How diversified is the company's product portfolio? A one-product company has obvious profitability disadvantages. Amgen the only biotech stock that received a gold star from Weisbrod, could be selling around $50 to $60 a share by year-end, he predicted. "We recommend aggressive purchase" of Amgen common stock for near-term and long-range price appreciation, he said. Amgen traded at $37.50 a share over-the-counter last week and has a MEMO Please turn to Page 3F By DALE KASLER Register Business Writer DENVER, COLO.

As the airplane descends through wispy clouds, the passengers gaze upon an almost pastoral setting: a gleaming Denver skyline framed by the snowcapped Rocky Mountains. Once the plane lands, though, passengers are plunged into a frequent flyer's nightmare: a maze of dingy, crowded corridors and 20-minute walks between gates. Welcome to Stapleton Internation- eration that's bulging with nearly 35 million passengers annually, up from 20 million in 1980. Last year it passed London's Heathrow to become the world's fifth busiest airport, behind Chicago-O'Hare, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth. The growth is propelled by Denver's role as a hub city for Continental and United airlines, two of the largest U.S.

air carriers. The growth has its downside. Stapleton has become the Bermuda Triangle of airports, filled with horror stories of missed connections and endless delays. It's often a sore spot with westbound Iowans who find nearly all flights go through Denver. "It's full of delays," said Stephen Chapman, who runs a Des Moines al Airport, the world's fifth busiest airport and, according to many travelers, one of the worst.

Stapleton is run by a former lowan. Aviation director George Doughty began his airport career 12 years ago as assistant director of Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport. He insists the jobs aren't all that different. "It's really the same stuff, just a different scale," he said. "Just a few more planes, a little bit bigger facility." Right.

And Charles Lindbergh was just another flyboy. In Cedar Rapids, Doughty helped run an efficient, medium-sized airport that served maybe a half-million travelers a year. In Denver, he presides over an op- travel agency. "It's constantly under construction. The gates are miles apart If you fly in on Continental and want to transfer on United, you'd better pack a lunch." Mountain blizzards can make a bad situation even worse.

"I do know that people have been trapped there more than one day at a time," said Sig Jaas-tad, an official with Northwestern Bell in Des Moines. Two years ago, the airport restaurants ran low on food during a snowstorm, and "there were allegations of people scalping food and beverages," he said. Stapleton astounds Doughty's first boss, former Cedar Rapids airport director Roy Jamesen. "I could not AIRPORT Please turn to Page 3F REGISTER PHOTO I 12,000 ft. runway I Stapleton International Airport i I I 11,500 ft.

runway-r 1 4,871 ft. 4 runway I Flre station 7,926 ft By DALE KASLER Register Business Writer The new radio and TV station company being spun off by Heritage Communications Inc. may move to Dallas next year. The new company, to be called Heritage Media may relocate to be closer to many of its operations. The company has TV stations in Oklahoma City, Pensacola, and a few other Sun Belt cities, and the company may purchase more southern properties in the near future, said James Hoak president of both Heritage Communications and the new Heritage Media.

The Sun Belt "is where this company (Heritage Media is going to be growing in the future," Hoak said. Hoak said moving the broadcast company to Texas would involve the departure of only three or four radio and TV executives from Des Moines. He stressed that Heritage Communications itself the cable TV opera' tor will keep its headquarters in Des Moines. The company has about 300 employees in Des Moines, including those who work for Heritage Ca-blevision, the local cable TV fran-; chise. Hoak wouldn't say whether he'll move to Dallas, too.

"What my per-' sonal situation is, is personal, and don't want to comment. If I move, it will be for personal business rea sons." The birth of Heritage Media is the result of the proposed sale of Heritage Communications, the 10th larg-i est U.S. cable company, to Tele-Corn-; munications Inc. for $887 million: Heritage shareholders, who would receive $34 a share, will vote on the; deal at a special meeting June 30 Denver-based TCI must sell Heritage's broadcasting operations because of federal regulations that pro; hibit TCI from owning cable systems and broadcast stations in the same market. So TCI has agreed to sell the Heritage radio and TV outlets to a HERITAGE Please turn to Page 3F TermirtafSiSe buildings Control i mmtf Aw Students trek to Iowa State to study llamas By VERONICA FOWLER Of The Resistor's Ames Bureau AMES, IA.

Driving around Ames in his battered GMC pickup on a sunny afternoon, Bill Franklin was getting some pretty strange looks. Cradled in his arms was a 4-month-old baby guanaco, sticking its head out the window dog fashion, its nose to the breeze. The guanaco, a kind of llama, is one of 22 llamas and guanacos that Franklin, a wildlife ecologist with Iowa State University, cares for on his mini-farm north of Ames. Franklin has built an international reputation for himself in llama research in the heart of a university better known for battling swine disease and crop fungi. His research is not only on llamas, but also on guanacos and the closely related vicunas.

Llamas, guanacos and vicunas "are historically the most important group of animals in the Western Hemisphere," says Franklin. In countries such as Bolivia, Chile LLAMAS tower i 10.004 ft. Field elevation General runway 5,333 ft. i aviation parking Stapleton traffic 1 Millions of passengers i 1 I I 80 '81 '82 '83 '84 '85 '86 George Donghry good naturedly describes his job as aviation director of the Denver airport as a "suicide mission. Phase turn to Page 2F.