What’s farmland selling for in your area(s)?

I’m pretty sure farmers have been looking for additional acreage to farm for a long while…I’ve seen it, as has everyone else who spends time in farm country…pheasants forever has biologists who educate farmers about the programs that exist to protect environmentally sensitive land, and compensate them for doing so. I know one of those biologists, they work closely with FSA/NRCS offices… their efforts have been pretty successful. Like anything else, know your options…it’s much easier today to get a farmers attention about conservation programs when corn has a 3 handle and beans have an 8-9 handle, compared with 8 & 15/16 just 3-4 years ago…and costs for most all inputs have gone up considerably over that time. Maybe it will, in fact, just cause the farmer to decide to convert that marginal ground into farm ground…guessing it was heading that way regardless. Lots of these spots that I’m hunting aren’t farmable in most years with normal rainfall…they may be farmable a year or two out of 5…then Mother Nature has a say. A guaranteed stream of $ isn’t such a bad thing, especially with crop prices where they are. My county in SD has increased its CRP vs 2007, as well as other habitat programs. One producer alone enrolled a few thousand acres in CREP in the adjacent county, which I hunt regularly…and that’s a guy who strictly does what puts the most $in his pocket…pretty sure that got the attention of other producers in the area. These areas have lots of marginal ground to begin with, which is why the hunting has historically been good. I’m a fan of educating people, showing them the options, and move on…they know what’s best for them. Did this for a living for 34 years, pretty simple…at the end of the day, there’s plenty of hunting ground where I hunt…we never get to all of it, not even close…I hope these farmers, especially the young ones, can make it, whether there’s a pheasant to shoot or not….
 
Subtlety isn’t my specialty…blinding flash of the obvious! Anyway, whenever I see, or talk to, a landowner who has ground that I love and have had great hunts on, I tell them…with great specificity and adjectives and emphasis…I sometimes call a farm widow who moved 300 miles away, after shooting a few sharptails, while in her pasture…and I make sure my buddy is with, to chime in as well…very little in this world excites me more than awesome natural environments full of wildlife…been that way since I was a young kid. A young farmer in SD always leads with a certain 1/2 section of his land when I see him or talk to him…probably because I spout on and on about how awesome it is, and how incredibly fun it is to hunt! I assure you, they don’t always know…this kids’ dad is one of them….a great friend, for 30+ years, but I take his hunting commentary with a grain of salt, always have…bottom line, I love telling them about how fantastic I think their land is…they seem to enjoy hearing it. And if them knowing how good a certain piece is, and they tell another hunter or family member, good! I like knowing that they get positive feedback about their land…I think it’s important to circle back with them after a hunt and give them a report! Especially a positive one!
 
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benelli-banger said:
Subtlety isn’t my specialty…blinding flash of the obvious! Anyway, whenever I see, or talk to, a landowner who has ground that I love and have had great hunts on, I tell them…with great specificity and adjectives and emphasis…I sometimes call a farm widow who moved 300 miles away, after shooting a few sharptails, while in her pasture…and I make sure my buddy is with, to chime in as well…very little in this world excites me more than awesome natural environments full of wildlife…been that way since I was a young kid. A young farmer in SD always leads with a certain 1/2 section of his land when I see him or talk to him…probably because I spout on and on about how awesome it is, and how incredibly fun it is to hunt! I assure you, they don’t always know…this kids’ dad is one of them….a great friend, for 30+ years, but I take his hunting commentary with a grain of sand, always have…bottom line, I love telling them about how fantastic I think their land is…they seem to enjoy hearing it. And if them knowing how good a certain piece is, and they tell another hunter or family member, good! I like knowing that they get positive feedback about their land…I think it’s important to circle back with them after a hunt and give them a report! Especially a positive one!
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I heard the biggest farmer in my county say that a tree or blade of grass is nothing but a weed to him, it's got to go.
 
The farmer buddy of mine who owns the farmhouse where we stay, and now, the mini-lodge that sleeps 4, a mile away (if the house is occupied, back-up option), has been enrolling chunks of ground into CRP here and there over the past several years…he always calls to chat about different scenarios, layouts, etc…I can tell him what I think makes sense, but he usually just wants some affirmation of what he’s thinking. But I hunt his ground a ton, so there’s some insight into bird behavior, etc…but I think more communication, about everything, is better with these folks…my .02 cents. Wherever we’re staying, we have an open door policy in the evening…and an open stove. Those evenings are the highlights of everything that goes on..for me, at least!
 
For years I moaned about land being leased and hunting turning into a rich man’s game. I still don’t like it BUT…I’ve also watched countless woodlots fence rows wet holes old homesteads be bulldozed and farmed. Often just combining 2,3,4fields into one giant faunal desert. Seems every farmer has a batwing bush hog, dozer, and excavator and needs busy work to keep the hired man on. I say this as a full time farmer myself. I hate to say it but it this will continue unless it pencils to keep cover around. I.E. leasing, gov. conservation funds etc.
 
Ground in my area is still quite a bit cheaper. Good dryland without meaningful deer habitat is $2-3k. Irrigated ground obviously depends on the quality of the well, but maybe $5k. Way out in SW KS there's a contiguous 480 acres of good, clean pasture with a couple of solar wells and tanks listed at $1250. Anything that the allows the agents to market deer hunting brings a premium, especially if it's 80-320 acres. $3k minimum for sandy, brushy pasture, maybe a bit more if there's enough crop ground to generate some income.

I'm kicking myself for passing on a dryland quarter that went for $1150 at auction about 5 years ago. But with an auction you never know. Maybe the guy that bought it had a ceiling much higher than mine would have been. In that case all I would have done was cost him more money.
 
Land around mine in Wisconsin is going for $12-$15k/ac. It's not super productive farm ground either.

Land near where I live in central Indiana is going for $10-$14k. Much better for farming and yields but no big dairy operations (which is what I think drive WI prices where I'm at.)

Farmer that I hunt with in E. Central Illinois just bought some ground for $12.5k/ac. Better for farming than IN or WI for sure.
 
One beacon of success, and maybe Benelli-banger elluded to already, is the CREP program here in SD. Those acres were some of the first under enrollment options with updated competitive CRP rates, plus the incentive added on top by the state. I'd guess those CREP parcels pencil out pretty well vs. cash rent and 125 bu/acre corn at $3.73. Too bad MN's CREP program requires perpetual easements.
 
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