Farms disappearing at alarming rates

[Hay Dude]

Not disagreeing with your statement...... .... but consider the alternative.....

Is getting bought up by creepy 'ol Billy (frequent flyer to Epstein Island) Gates an improvement ?

Rgds, D.

Point taken
I just don't know if it's who's buying them as much as how much farm land has disappeared
20 million acres ain't nothing to sneeze at

 

[needmoredirt]

Not having to borrow purchase money at market rates would make a huge difference in the previous math I posted, a different location could also. If paying cash, my guess is that something around 400 acres could be viable even when commodity prices are low. And larger tracts typically sell for slightly less per acre than the single 80 I had in my example.

I imagine that Bill Gates has attorneys and accountants to manage ownership and tax liability for his various land holdings. If his non-profit happens to own the land it could even be tax exempt. He’s on a different level than an average guy that would be interested in trying to farm for a living.

I agree land is the best investment available. It has a fixed quantity in the face of a perpetual increasing demand. The initial cost is a significant barrier to entry. My grandfather originally bought his entire farm for $20 an acre in 1932. That original parcel is now 9 parcels with houses on 7 of them. The first 4 acre piece chunked off sold for $96,000 in 1998, and there’s probably $4,000,000+ in total market value sitting on that land today.

You do realize gates/MS is a legal firm, not a technology firm, right?

 

[shooterdon]

I saw this starting many decades ago and wonder where we will end up.

Farms being abandoned as they became unprofitable, farms consolidated into larger entities and farms sold off.

There are families I know where there would be four or more kids. When Ma and Pa passed on, the only "solution" was to "sell the farm". By then, the old folks had stopped farming and either lived on the land until they passed or lived there and rented out the land. Once they passed, the kids wanted to "cash out".

 

[milkman636]

You do realize gates/MS is a legal firm, not a technology firm, right?

I realize that Microsoft manages the OS of business and government, and they host more government, corporate, and personal data on their servers than any other organization. And, I know Bill has a large nonprofit with global reach and goals. I honestly have no idea how to classify them.

Murphy’s golden rule #1: He who has the gold makes the rules.

 

[2manyrocks]

I had a friend from school who worked with his dad on their family farm all his life. No way he or his Dad would sell it, but the grandkids sold it within a few months after he passed.

 

[milkman636]

Even if one grandkid was interested in keeping it, paying market price to fairly buy out the non-interested grandkids and keep peace in the family may have been too pricey to make economic sense.

 

[2manyrocks]

There were two grandkids and both wanted to sell it.

 

[Hay Dude]

I disagree with who to blame. It's the people that own the land 100%. They're the one's that are allowing it on their property.

With that said, it's their land to do what they want with. At least that's the same argument hog farmers used to use when "city" people would move to the country and complain about the smell. Except it's now a sight, not a smell. An appearance. Etc.

Personally, I'd like to see the country gravitate towards more nuclear power. I'd much rather have solar than wind, just for the appearance factor. Natural gas is pretty clean. Coal is a last choice.

There's a large solar farm going in west of us, and a HUGE battery plant. I'm not sure the people that live in that area understood how large that battery plant is going to be. They should have driven down to Kokomo and had look. It's going to alter that small town for eternity. But again, the only people to blame are the farmers that sold the land for the projects.

My guess is those batteries will take a dump within 20 years, like they all do and be replaced by smaller, more efficient nuke plants or cleaner burning NG plants.

But first, we have to come to our senses, and get away from energy that is produced to keep emotional teenagers and related dolts from having fits.

After we start ignoring the “hockey stick” types and the Greta Tunaburger types and we get some adults back in the room, we can start building a logical, practical electric grid again.

Windmills were a bust.

 

[needmoredirt]

I realize that Microsoft manages the OS of business and government, and they host more government, corporate, and personal data on their servers than any other organization. And, I know Bill has a large nonprofit with global reach and goals. I honestly have no idea how to classify them.

Murphy’s golden rule #1: He who has the gold makes the rules.

Maybe true. If that makes you feel warm and fuzzy, dive right in, the water's warm.

I'll watch.

No offense

 

[ultrarunner]

There were two grandkids and both wanted to sell it.

I see this all the time... show me the money and sooner the better...

Kind of sad as in Europe co workers lived on family property going back hundreds of years.

The land is everything...