In the past couple of years, it has been a question I have heard routinely from people not connected directly to Ag but who are familiar enough with what has happened in the farm economy the last few years. The question goes something like this: How in the WORLD are farmer’s still paying that kind of money for farmland! I always enjoy this question as it’s a great opportunity to educate people and dispel some myths about ag land and the farm economy. Well the good people over at www.agriculture.com recently posted a new article that tackles this same question. Have a read yourself here: https://www.agriculture.com/farm-management/farm-land/how-are-farmers-affording-high-land-prices
While this area of the Southern Red River Valley doesn’t see the same prices mentioned in the article from places like Iowa, we still see strong prices for good land that make some people scratch their head. To summarize the article, here are the key reasons we continue to see good prices for strong farm land:
- For many, buying farmland is hard to pencil they day you buy it, but buyers are typically buying it for multiple generations. Over time, land investments have usually paid off and been a huge source of a farmer’s net-worth and future income when the time comes to stop farming it and start renting it.
- Farmers can often-times dollar-cost-average their investment in new land. Many farmers have owned land that was purchased decades ago for a few hundred dollars an acre. Paying a strong price today is easier when you can dollar-cost-average your total land investments across low-basis land with higher-value land.
- We are seeing more investors interested in ag land with prices having fallen since the highs of 2012/2013. Investors can tend to push the market a bit which can lead to rising prices.
- I will add one more item the article didn’t address. While the farm economy has struggled along the past few years, the top 20% of producers out there are still incredibly well positioned to capitalize on the land market when the right parcels come up for sale. Strong land will always bring strong prices, and there are still excellent operators out there with dry powder just waiting for the right opportunities.
Until next time!
Andy