I have a different opinion of the worth of farmland than suggested in the article “Affording Acres” in the October '03 Corn And Soybean Digest. There is much more to land prices than earnings.
Land is fun to own and operate, and the pride of owning land runs deep in our blood. Land is worth what someone is willing to pay for the privilege of farming it.
I understand that land buyers have to be able to pay for their purchases, but if land prices were only driven by the ability of that land to pay for itself, very few farms would ever change hands. I don't know anyone who has ever paid too little for land. Whether the land is paid for by profit or equity — or is farmed for decades and never paid for — we pay for land what we have to for the privilege of farming.
Dave Kuhle
Hazel Green, WI