US Farmland Prices: 10 Biggest Owners and Cheapest & Most Expensive Places to Buy

Buy Land in the U.S: Top Places and States with the Cheapest Land

Unlike buying a home in the USA, land is a blank canvas waiting for your creative ideas on what you’ll do with it. The prospect of buying land for sale is exciting and loaded with potential.

Farmland Prices To Soar in the USA

Sales prices increased again as a result of the outbreak of war in Ukraine and ongoing inflation fears in January 2022 after the land market remained stable during a calm period in December 2021. Farmers noticed higher commodity prices, and investors desired an inflation-hedging investment with little risk.

At company auctions in March, good land that was selling for about $16,000 per acre last fall sold for $19,000 to $21,500 per acre. On top of a 15% to 30% increase in value across the majority of Grain Belt states in 2022, this price increase has been added.

A growing number of individual investors entered the market as they recognized farmland as a secure, long-term inflation hedge. Together, these factors and the resulting increased demand drove up land prices in 2022 and 2023.

♦ Farmland prices continue to soar, as a new record Iowa land sale occurred in Dubuque County, Iowa in July, 2022 with High Point Land Company auctioning off 60 acres for $30,000 per acre.

♦ Land sales continue to set records. In July, a farm in Plymouth County, Iowa sold for $25,000 per acre.

Top 5 Sales in Plymouth County:

→ 5/27/22: $25,000 per acre, 96.33 acres

→ 2/25/22: $20,075 per acre, 125.57 acres

→ 12/27/21: $19,100 per acre, 77 acres

→ 11/18/21: $18,600 per acre, 80 acres

→ 11/18/21: $17,800 per acre, 120 acres

The stronger land prices of late 2021 continued higher through the first half of 2022. (Farm Journal)

What state has the cheapest land? New Mexico is the state with the cheapest land according to our land prices per acre page. This is largely due to the fact that it has a lot of of rural desert acreage.

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10 Largest Private Farmland Owners in the US Today

According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, landlords like Bill Gates who are not farmers rent out about 30% of the country's farmland.

The National Farmers Union has warned that the increasing number of non-farmer owners who are buying up farmland and renting it out, like Gates, may result in environmentally harmful practices.

Gates and other affluent land purchasers have come under fire for their role in the concentration of land ownership. Fewer people actually end up owning their own farmland because they can typically make higher bids than what nearby farmers can afford.

Gates himself was careful to distinguish between his investments and his climate advocacy. When questioned about his extensive land holdings in a Reddit AMA in March, the billionaire appeared to try to distinguish between his climate advocacy and his personal investments. "This is what my investment team decided to do. It has nothing to do with the weather. The agricultural industry is crucial, he said.

Gates is listed with other celebrities and a few farmers on the farmland list.

1.Bill Gates

Bill Gates now holds the title of a cool 270,000 acres of land across the U.S.

Amassed with a newly purchased 2,100-acre farm in North Dakota, Bill Gates’ Red River Trust now holds the title of a cool 270,000 acres of land across the U.S.

2.Ted Turner

Founder of CNN who owns over 200,00 acres in Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota and New Mexico.

3.Stewart and Lynda Resnick

Owners of Wonderful. The two boast 192,000 acres in California and Texas.

4.Offutt family

Owners of RDO Equipment, also own 190,000 acres in North Dakota, where they primarily grow potatoes.

5.Fanjul family

Florida Crystals Corp. owners tend 152,000 acres of sugarcane production in South Florida.

6.Boswell family

Owners of the JG Bowell Tomato Company that tend to 150,000 acres of tomatoes and cotton in Central California.

7.Stan Kroenke

Real estate mogul and owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment who owns 124,000 acres in Montana.

8.Gaylon Lawrence Jr

CEO of the Lawrence Group who owns 115,000 acres from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

9.John Molone

Founder of TCI—a company he later sold to AT&T for a cool $50 billion—hosts 100,000 acres in Colorado, Wyoming, Maine and New Mexico—land thatincludes various well-known ranches.

10.Simplot family

Operate 82,500 acres in Idaho and Washington including potato production and cattle feedlots.

Top States to Buy the Cheapest Land in the U.S

There are plenty of places to buy cheap land in America.

1.New Mexico: $100 Per Acre

Although New Mexico's geography is surprisingly diverse and includes grasslands, fertile valleys, and mountains covered in trees, the majority of the state is desert.

Southern portions of the state are traversed by the Chihuahuan Desert, and land in Deming, for example, can be purchased for less than $200 per acre. There are times when you can find land outside of Bosque for sale for $100 per acre.

2.Nevada: $100-$200 per acre

Nevada made the list because it contains a lot of remote desert land, similar to how New Mexico did. The Great Basin includes Northern Nevada. There are hot summers and cold winters here because this is a desert region. Cheap land for sale in Nevada can be found in areas outside of cities like Wells, Lovelock, and Winnemucca for between $100 and $200 per acre.

3.Arizona: $250-$500 per acre

The Arizona desert is another place to find inexpensive land. The majority of southern and western Arizona is arid desert land, despite some areas of the state having forests, canyons, and even ski resorts. It is well-known for having mild winters and mild summers, as well as being the home of cactus plants.

Despite the fact that there is affordable land for sale in Arizona all over the state, you should start your search in the west and south. You can frequently find land for sale in western Arizona outside of towns like Wikieup, Kingman, Meadview, and Bullhead City for $250 to $500 per acre or less.

You can find properties for $400–600 per acre in the southern regions near Douglas, Hereford, Bisbee, and McNeal.

4.Maine: $450-$800 per acre

It is situated in the New England region of the United States and distinguished by its rugged coastline and dense forest. It is the most northeastern and least populous state in the union.

The eastern region of the state, more specifically the Northeast, is a good place to start if you're looking for inexpensive land for sale in Maine. You can sometimes find remote properties in northeastern towns like Van Buren, Connor Township, and Castle Hill for as little as $450 to $800 per acre. You might find land tracts for $400–700 per acre in some eastern towns like Amity, Cary, Dyer Brook, and Linneus.

5.Michigan: $250-$600 per acre

Michigan is home to some cheap land for the same reason as Maine. It’s essentially 2 large peninsulas—the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.

If you’re searching for cheap land for sale in Michigan, check out the Upper Peninsula. You’ll see land prices that range as low as $250-$600 per acre.

6.Colorado: $500-900 per acre

You can find land for sale in the desert regions of the East and particularly the Southeast near the cities of Kim, Campo, Eads, and Hasty for $680 to $1,000 per acre. There are some desert-like conditions and some mountainous terrain in the West. Occasionally, land in this area is for sale for between $500 and $900 per acre.

Prices can be as low as $750-$1,000 per acre in the South in places like Walsenburg, Del Norte, and Moffat. Even in the state's central region, in places like Yoder, you might be able to find land parcels for sale for less than $1,000 per acre.

7.Texas: $350-$600 per acre

When people think of Texas, they frequently envision desert terrain. However, less than 10% of Texas's land is actually classified as desert. Its diverse landscapes include grasslands, forests, and coastlines.

If you're looking for inexpensive land for sale in Texas, you'll find that nearly the entire western region of the state, along with the southern Mexican and western New Mexico borders, is desert. For instance, you can occasionally find land for $350-$600 per acre in western regions like Sierra Blanca and Monahans. You can find land for as little as $350-$500 per acre in the Southern region near cities like Dryden and Sanderson, which is close to the Mexican border.

8.Oregon: $250-$650

Oregon is one of the United States’ most geographically diverse states.

Around cities like Adel, Plush, and Bonanza, you can find land for sale in the $250-$650 per acre range. As you move north a bit to places like Christmas Valley, Summer Lake, Brothers, and then to Service Creek, you’ll see some land prices as low as $300-$700 per acre.

0.Utah: $350-$750 per acre

When it comes to geography, Utah has a wide variety. The Wasatch Front, which runs through the state's middle, is where the majority of the people live. Rugged terrain, dry deserts, and other difficult terrain make up a sizable portion of the state. As a result, many areas of Utah, particularly the extremes, have affordable land for sale.

You can occasionally find parcels for sale in the Northwest in places like Grouse Creek for as little as $150 per acre. In central Oregon, parcels outside of cities like Delta and Fillmore occasionally go on the market for $350-$750 per acre. For $375 to $600 per acre, you can buy land in the South in places like Beryl.

Cheapest Places in USA to Buy One Acre of Land - Updated

These locations are some of the least expensive places in the country to buy one acre of land:

Jasper County, Mississippi

Location: Southeast part of Mississippi, about 49 miles east of Jackson

Total square miles: 676

Lowest price for one acre of land: $1,251

Luna County, New Mexico

Location: Southwest part of the state, about 37 miles west of Las Cruces

Total square miles: 2,965 (Note: 30 acres belong to the Fort Sill Apache Tribe)

Lowest price for one acre of land: $1,450

Polk County, Florida

Location: Central Florida

Total square miles: 1,798

Lowest price for one acre of land: $1,599

Torrance County, New Mexico

Location: Center of the state, about 40 miles east of Albuquerque

Total square miles: 3,345

Lowest price for one acre of land: $1,750

Cheapest Places in the United States to buy 5 Acres of Land - Updated

Here are some of the least expensive places to purchase five acres of land in the country:

Hudspeth County, Texas

Location: Westernmost corner of the state, about 29 miles east of El Paso

Total square miles: 4,571

Lowest price per five acres of land: $1,200

Costilla County, Colorado

Location: Southwest part of the state, about 15 miles east of Alamosa

Total square miles: 1,227 (Note: There are 633 acres of communal grazing land in the county)

Lowest price per five acres of land: $2,495

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