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NWMO | I’ve had the privilege of working with some very large landowners over my short farming career. Some who own in excess of 20k acres of tillable land. I was told, “if you ever get so attached to a piece of land that you’d never be able to part ways with it, it’ll be very difficult for you to ever grow beyond where you are today.”
Meaning, sometimes the right deal and the right land isn’t the land you’re currently covering. Sometimes, letting this land go and waiting for the right deal is a better option. Why put your entire future in farming in jeopardy for one piece? There will always be more land to buy, markets go up and down and land prices can fluctuate.
Everyone who justifies owning land says the same thing. “Land only goes up in value.” That’s not 100% true. In 2011-2013 land around here went nuts, $10k+/ac. From 2016-2020 you could purchase land around here for $6k-$8k/ac all day long, if you had the financial capability to buy it you’d be tickled pink right now due to the change in value.
I’m a young farmer, there’s absolutely no way I could afford $15k/ac land payments, many older farmers couldn’t either. If it’s broken into parcels, then it would make more sense to buy a 80 or maybe even 120-160. However, 300 acres at that cost is a huge expense even for guys farming 3000 acres. | |
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How can a young farmer afford ground?
