Farmland Prices Keep Soaring. Who’s Buying?

A new record sale of Iowa farmland occurred last week in Dubuque County, marking an unchanged farmland value environment where prices continue to climb. The sale auctioned off 60 acres for $30,000 per acre. At that rate, questions are starting to arise: Who can really afford farmland anymore?

According to land records of a recently purchased 2,100-acre farm in North Dakota, Bill Gates’ Red River Trust now boasts 270,000 acres of land across the U.S. However, North Dakota’s “corporate farming laws” barred corporations and limited liability companies from owning and leasing farmland. Bill Gate’s trust has since received a letter from North Dakota’s attorney general inquiring about the planned use of the land. Overall, Bill Gates is not far ahead when it comes to land procurement. Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, owns more than 200,000 acres.

Read more on farmland values and sales here.