Kansas land prices ?
Whitetail Deer
Whats avg hunting ground costing these days?
Was in notheast kansas last fall and land seemed very expensive.
The farmer I was hunting with said tillable ground has gone through the roof.
Kansas has some very diverse land and I am sure it is priced accordingly. North east region has much more agriculture than I would have thought. I have also hunted west central kansas a few times and that was mostly cattle country with center pivots on most grain fields.
Recreational land is pushing the $3k per acre...80-to 240 anyhow.
Last year a buddy got a great 800-plus acres for a little under $900 per acre. The family needed money, now, and he had the funds in reserve to just write them a check.
Right place, right time, right buyer with plenty of funds.
john thats a awesome price
Anything under 1500 an acer in the Midwest is unreal in my opinion......could not imagine under 900!!
Man Writer, haven't heard of land below a grand/acre in over a decade. That was a deal!
This is something I pay attention to and I hear a lot going for $2,500 or better all over the state.... even for terrible farm ground.
$900 per acre does not exist. In 1999 it did exist but not now. Unless you know somebody that needs the money and is not smart enough to call an auctioneer or real estate agent. Land price in Ks depends on the county. My wife and I have been searching very hard in Butler County and have found parcels 40-100 acres bring $2800- $6250 per acre. Of course, the smaller the parcel, the more per acre.
yea the larger the land has a range of 1500-5000$ but larger the parcel the lower the price
southeast Kansas can be had for 1600+ and i'd say you could buy stuff pretty regularly for 2k...of course they will be hunting tracts...75-80% hunting 20-25% income.
the price of oil has a lot of people nervous and some of the big guys who bought up land for oil are selling off or sold off early. its a 1 buck state so its a hard pill to swallow to spend a ton of cash and only get 1 tag so i dont think you see the massive sales of farms like you do mo, il, and ia.
Thorton. Trust me, it happened.
As I wrote, the family needed the money immediately. My friend was able to transfer some into his account and pay full price within a few days.
Mineral rights need special consideration. In certain areas you might be able to purchase land for $2000/acre w/o mineral rights but have to pay $3200/acre to include mineral rights. If a seismograph is conducted and they drill for oil right in the middle of your honey hole and you do not have mineral rights you are basically owning 2K land and holding the bag. If you own mineral rights at least you will enjoy the income to offset your hunting however you have also paid more for the land to began with......something to weigh!
Seismograph (thanks for teaching me how to spell it, John), messed us totally up a few seasons back, running and gunning in October and November where we hunt around a national wildlife refuge.
I just had permission, so the landowner was getting some added income.
Some friends had just bought their places, didn't have the mineral rights, and were flat-out screwned.
Show me good hunting land in southeast Kansas for 1600$ and I'll buy it all!
I bought my 80 in 2010 for $103k. It went up $44k in value in the first 3 years.
If you don't own the minerals, you still get a pile of cash when they install the pipeline.
Here are some recent auction results and one private sale:
5-30-15 177 Acres including a home in Chase County. This is a very good deer and turkey property. $3255 per acre. I would rate this as an excellent property for outdoor recreation.
11-22-15 Three tracts in Lyon County. 177 acres $3400 per acre. 257 Acres $3050 per acre. 78 acres $3050 per acre. I do not know much about these properties except there is some wildlife habitat.
9-11-14 156 acres in McPherson County $1700 per acre. I know nothing about this property except it shows wildlife habitat
July 2014 43 acres by private treaty in Chase County. $3250 per acre. This is a very good deer and turkey property. The price is probably somewhat inflated due to special circumstances. The good news is that while I do not own it, I and the landowner are the only ones that hunt it(no one else has permission). I would rate this an excellent hunting property.
4-12-14 158 acres in Chase County $1500 per acre. There is a small home on the property and I would rate the deer and turkey potential as fair to good.
Alot of sales have homes/building attached but you can find and buy plenty of ground only deals 2,000/ac.KS isn't near as high as Iowa/Illinois with like comparisons.
NE Kansas typically carry the highest valuations
Prices may start coming down with lower fuel and grain prices. A lot of investors hedged land purchases in Kansas against other real estate deals after the housing bubble bust. You can dam sure bet once interest rates go up land will get cheaper. If I was wanting to own a hunting property I would be looking for tax auctions and then develop the habitat. I think 2016-2017 is going to be the right time to have the funds set aside to be able to invest.
Prices may start coming down with lower fuel and grain prices. A lot of investors hedged land purchases in Kansas against other real estate deals after the housing bubble bust. You can dam sure bet once interest rates go up land will get cheaper. If I was wanting to own a hunting property I would be looking for tax auctions and then develop the habitat. I think 2016-2017 is going to be the right time to have the funds set aside to be able to invest.
I'd say as long as beef stays high, the price that has been quoted is cheap. Think about it. 3 acres per cow and calf. 100 acres is 30 cows and 30 calfs. You lose 5%. Go to the market with 600 weight steers and cows and average $2.50 to $3.00 per lbs. 28 times 600 equals 16800 lbs. Do the math. If you have the equipment, you pay for it in 6 to 7 years. Best way I know to let your past investment pay for itself.
Don't know a thing about Kansas land prices but, I really thought it'd be more expensive. Owning ground is very affordable fable if it is rangeland. God Bless
Don't see land prices going down. A lot of people out there with the money to burn. I've seen an increase in NR landowners in the last 2 years. A lot of the smaller farmers and ranchers are being outbid, you put the pencil to it and it takes a lot of years to make the land pay for itself at the going rate... and try to raise a family on top of that. There are some larger family farms and ranches that are able to compete.
IMO... mostly it's doctors or various business men with money to burn/invest driving the prices up, not so much grain prices or fuel costs. Kansas crop yields fluctuate too much to count on any type of consistent income. Cattle may be the way to go in Kansas... my dad has been saying that for years. Only way I see it going down is a national or global economic crisis.
Just look at how many "Land Specialists" and Real Estate Agencies focusing on hunting/recreational properties are out there nowadays. There are hunting shows with the sole purpose of land sales. It is what it is...
Not sure where you are from WV but $3000 an acre for grassland won't pay for itself in "6-7 years". We have some of the best grass in the world right here in the Flint Hills. The wise old ranchers stopped buying pastures when it went past $1500 an acre because you simply can't make any money at $3000/acre. They are selling though and raking in huge profits to those that are dumb enough to buy it. There are some huge corporations that buy thousands of acres and get it below $2k and acre. They double stock, overgraze, and burn every year. This has made them some money but has destroyed the native birds of the last tallgrass prairie in the process. More and more ranchers are building feedlots because it is a faster gain and requires less land.
Annual burning helps cause erosion problems, too, Thorton...another solid reason for patch burning.
I am all for patch burning. There are some large ranches near Rosalia that seem to be practicing that. I have heard through the grapevine that one of them participates in aerial prairie chicken surveys and they have seen a big increase in the bird's numbers.
Since the deer hunting got good in Kansas the land prices have gotten so high a guy can't even buy a farm and make a profit farming..
I just had some appraised central KS tillable @ 3200 pasture @ 2000 wood bottom @ 1800
I didnt see quoted prices for $6000 to $7000 per acre. I saw $1500 to $3500 per acre. And if you will read my post carefully and see it for what it is, economics don't lie. Btw, im from WV. Where grass land brings a premium. God Bless
I do not see anything selling in the 1500 range and have not for years. Saw some sell at 3750 and some at 4K in fairly large tracts. Think the market has cooled off now.
One thing to remember for the NR looking at KS land. Only a small % is wildlife habitat and most of what is has little or no income potential without reducing or ruining the wildlife potential.
Just as a farmer looks at tillable acres a hunter must look at huntable acres. The ever increasing oil production in KS has had a very significant negative impact on deer quality in eastern KS. Almost every pumper has a rifle in his truck or a buddy he tells about the larger deer he sees. Either way, they are not long for this world.
Everyone with land in KS now banks on "deer that come in from X" as they cannot find any on their land. The problem is that X now has no good bucks either. You are all too late to the party. Trophy deer are a product of excess production and under harvest. That does not happen in KS today.
Truer words could not be typed R. Hale. I laugh when I see folks on here saying they just bought or leased a piece in KS and they live in another state. They think they have exclusive hunting on it. They did not take into account the oil pumpers, road hunters, local rednecks, and family of the farmer that leases the land from them will all take a shot at a big buck standing too close to the road. I once gained permission from a local landowner that had leased to NR for years I found out. He told me "If the warden shows up, I gave you permission. If the lessors show up, you are lost" I have a friend that likes to rifle hunt the 40 he lives on. Every year he tears down deer stands the neighbors sneak in and put up.
Come on up to NE. Some irrigated farm ground is going for over $10,000 an acre. My friends dad sold an irrigated 320 for $9,300/acre. It's ridiculous.
Interesting. About ten years ago a buddy bought a quarter-section, don't know the price.
It's farmed enough to about make the payments and they've taken two net-Booners off of the land over about he last five years.
Interesting discussion. I was hunting up in Alberta last year, talking to the outfitter about land prices and such. The 160 acres next to his property was up for sale. This was flat tilled ground (oats or something I think) not a tree on it. He told me they were asking almost $20k per acre. He said he tought that was "a little high" but didn't act like it was insane. I almost fell over.
--Jim
It may very well be your local farmer that is pushing these prices up but it is not the farmer that is paying for it.
It is you and me the tax payer. Click on my link and go to the EWG Crop Subsidy Data Base. click on that and then type in your zip code in the search box and look at the money these farmers are getting in government welfare.
It appears my link doesn't work. The website you want is EWG.org
Good reference buckhammer. there is more subsidy money for loans, at CHEAP rates, right now through government programs, than ever before. $300,000 at 3% over 40 years is something banks would shoot you for even asking. Yet, your local USDA agent can and will lend it to you if the farm is right. They can and will go to $750,000 for cattle and equipment as well. Same for grain farmers, produce farmers, etc....
It is very easy to listen to folks that want you to believe something. It is entirely different when you know better. Owning your own ground is affordable. It just might not be the best hunting if it qualifies for these government program loans. But, those areas do exists in places. And, like all things, it takes dedication and the will to make it work. That encompasses any possession one has earned in life. Buying your own land and making it pay for itself is a far better long term investment than anything stock related. Your kids will thank you later because the guberment can't take it from them like inherited monetary assets. God Bless
WV,
The fact that you can get a cheap loan for something is really no recommendation that you should be indebted to own it. Things like ability to repay and liquidity also figure into it.
Family farms are routinely sold out of estates to pay taxes on the estate. Land ownership makes you a target for lawsuits as it is proof you have assets. Income tax liens will always attach to land. It is also taken by government for public and private use at a whim. Judges give it away to the relatives of crooked politicians at the stroke of a pen and insult you in the process.
Fences, surveys boundary disputes can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Land maintenance cost in money and labor is very high. Contrary to what you say, land that pays it's own way is not good hunting land in KS. I am not sure any land in KS actually pays it's own way unless it sprouts apartments. Most land in KS that contains huntable wildlife populations cannot pay it's own taxes, much less maintenance expense.
Chemical for noxious weed control, annual budget for dozer work to maintain roads and creek crossings. It all adds up to a staggering amount.
If you want an investment that is "off the grid" I would suggest looking at things that can be carried in your hand, your pocket or the bed of your truck. The rest is fair game for every government agency you can think of.
I base the above statements on the experience I have had in the purchase and ownership of 18 farms in KS over the last 15 years as well as watching others. I think it the worst investment of time and money I have ever made. The resources would have been rewarded many times over if applied in other fields.
At one time, this would have been partially offset by having quality hunting. Now with unlimited seasons and licenses, that perk is gone. Today, it is just a burden.
Absentee land ownership has even more problems.
This is just personal opinion and no offense intended.
The "business" of buying farm/rec land is tough but smaller acreages (Section or less)that provide investment after Pensions/IRAs have been fully funded each year can provide a tax shelter and intrinsic value with free hunting to make it work.
R Hale, I wasn't discounting or even disagreeing with your other posts. I was simply stating my experience. And, while it hasn't obtained 18 farms yet, I sure hope it does one day. BTW, I know hunting land isn't often great farming land. If you read my posts, you'll see that I said the requirements for this type endeavor requires range land. Which many times isn't the best for hunting. But, with the right variables it sure can be. No offense taken or meant
That's a great point Genesis.
God Bless.
Understand that many states like IA/IL will have twice the yields in farming than KS thus higher price tag and more buying pressure from those yields.
This is all very interesting but I thought I'd put in my two cents. Of the last 10 land auctions that I've attended, all of which had good hunting or I wouldn't have been interested, 6 sold to local farmers, 2 to local business men and 2 to hunters. I was one of the 2. We hear all this talk about hunters driving up the prices of land in Kansas but that's not the case. Farming has been really good the last 5 years or so and many farmers need a place to invest their cash. Most of these auctions have 2 local farmers bidding and paying the most.
JSW is correct, but when I did a story on it in 2007 it was the rec-value that was driving up prices.
The high crop prices have really lead to a lot of great habitat being ruined.
MeadWestvaco land sales , com
Some great hunting land just sold down the road from me... heard it went for over $2,500 per acre. Local business man bought it. It's currently being bulldozed (looks to be literally every tree) and a pipe fence put up around it for Texas Longhorns... yes longhorns.
A NR doctor bought some land just down the road from me a couple years ago. I know it went for $2,500 per acre. Great hunting land marginal farm ground.
The auctions I have been to there have been a few farmers, a few business men, and a few hunters. 15 years ago you could take the hunter out of the equation.
I've been farming for the past 5 years or so... and the last 5 years have not ALL been good. However, there are always farmers out there with very deep pockets, but the DEMAND for recreational and farm property have both increased the cost of land. I do feel that those looking for recreational land have had more of an impact... IMO... at least in this area.
Whitetail Properties prices are unbelievable, almost astronomical, but people buy from them all the time.
I do not put much stock in what their biologist or "land specialists" say on the show... total gimmick.
I sold my place for $1900 an acre just a year and half ago in Woodson County, bought it for $1000 an acre six years earlier at an auction. The deals are there, you just have to network like crazy and be extremely patient. Pat makes a good comment, Whitetail Props is not the way to go. Case in point, the new place I own in KY, they listed it for $1450 per acre, I bought it for 1K per acre and they were not involved in the deal. When and if I decide to sell this place, I will probably buy in KS or MO and find it through auctions and tons of homework/networking.
My farm went up $44k in just 3 years because of Whitetail Properties. They sold the neighbor's 80 for $152k just 3 years after he bought it for $110k
I've used whitetail properties on several land transactions and while their asking prices are high they are just that, asking price...i've never paid close to what was listed. the realtor from wp that i deal with knows his stuff about land and the area i buy and sell in. by law they have to submit your offer even if they do not like it. i've been able to double the size of my farm in 2 years and it wasn't due to paying what wp had them listed for.
I was thinking that as beef is likely to fall off some due to an increase in importing it. Looks like it has already started here. Run of the mill stocker steers went for a $1.80/lb last weekend at the auction. God Bless
Saw 280 acres in Wilson Co. that the realtor is asking $1800 per acre. A combination of farm, pasture and timber. Couple of ponds.
Used to be good hunting, but is bordered on one side by outfitter now.
Is that the one with the quarry on it
I bought 115 acres (25 tillable, the rest is timber) 1 1/2 years ago for $1,600/acre. This ground is 2 miles south of my home place.The general consensus was that it would bring a minimum of $3,000-$3,500/acre. I went to that auction with absolutely no intention to buy, only to see who bought it & how much it sold for. I never even got a bidding #. The bidding slowed at $1,300/acre & when they stopped the bidding to talk to the landowner, I went & got a bidding # before they resumed.
I was at the right place at the right time. I have had several good offers on that property since, from guys who didn't go to that auction because they heard the price was going to be out of their range, that several out of state buyers were going to be there, or that so and so was going to buy it no matter what.
I bought another 75 acres (20 tillable the rest timber) 8 months ago that adjoins my home place as well as some of my Dad's land for $3,000/acre. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but you don't get a chance to buy land next to you very often. I heard the same regrets from guys that didn't go to that auction too.
Considering that most decent farmland here in central Iowa is selling for $7-$12,000/ acre (light oak ground around $5,000-$6,000) & recreational ground at $2,000-$3,000/acre, I think that I got a good deal on the second piece & a steal on the first. I'm not making a ton of $ on them, but I bought them more for recreational property than anything else. Hard to put a value on being able to walk out the door of my house to a bunch of my stands or drive 1-3 miles to the rest of them!
There are still some good opportunities out there. You just need to be ready when they present themselves. There's not too many things more satisfying that owning your own hunting land. Believe me, I know how fortunate I am!
