The Land Market

Someone responded to my June 14, 2024, article “Now’s the Time” in the Fayette County Record. In the article, I said if you were making money in the cattle market, you should call me. Well one reader called me. Jim liked my articles and we had a long conversation. He thinks that people can make money in the cattle market much the same as he did. He did admit to working hard (good work ethic) and he’d also had a lot of luck. I know luck usually comes with planning.

Jim also said that we need more ranchers and that he believed that purchasing land (even with today’s land prices) was not out of the question for younger people. This made me think of when I bought land and twice when I didn’t.

I had just graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Agriculture Education when the land adjacent to the family farm came up for sale. It was 1972 and land prices had soared to a high of $150.00 per acre for the 160 acres. The land was half pasture and half woods.

Dad and I looked at buying the land and using his cattle as collateral for the down payment. He was still paying on the 200+ acres he bought in 1959 at $45.00/acre. I had a good job, but I worked five and a half days a week. Still, I felt that I could make money on the land. Well, we put in a bid, but the cattle price on the day of the sale fell a little short of a down payment.

That land was sold, but in a few years, the land next door came up for sale. That parcel was 150 acres. By then, I had a better job and only worked five days a week. Plenty of time to work weekends on the ranch. And the land for sale adjoined ours, so moving cattle around would be easier. The land was even better than the first land that was offered for sale. But I was outbid by a few dollars an acre. Today both properties have sold for over $18,000.00 per acre.

In 1996 I was fortunate to purchase land in Guadalupe County. I was married and my wife had a good job. I was working as a self-employed landscape contractor and made extra money consulting. When we were looking for land, we hired a realtor and told him we were searching for 15 acres to start a landscape nursery. When he called and said he had found 64.5 acres. My reply was, “I can’t afford to pay that much money.” He said, “Well you haven’t heard the price!”

We were lucky to get more land for the same price as a 15 acre parcel, I had my eye on. The 64.5 acre farm is up for sale today at $13.000 per acre, and that is well below appraised value. We were lucky and fortunate. We worked hard and paid off a house and the land in less than 30 years. Now it is time to move on as I live in Fayette County and don’t like the weekly drive(s) to check on the land and water the plants at the nursery.

I believe that a young person can afford to purchase land at today’s market prices. And I am not the only one, as Jim agreed. Wages may not have kept up with the rise in the cost of land, but there are still bargains out there. And a young person that is thrifty and has a good work ethic should be able to make enough money ranching to purchase land. Land in this area is more affordable than in other areas of the state.

Now I don’t think a new rancher would do well using conventional agriculture methods of spreading chemical fertilizers and using toxic chemistry to raise cattle. But I do believe that once a plan is in place, using organic methods and advanced grazing management techniques can make ranching pay. A good thrifty worker can still make a living raising cattle, if not full time, then at least part time. Once an organic operation is up and going well, it should be easily maintained, even for a weekend rancher.

I am so convinced that I am willing to help 3 young people in this county who buys land and wants to start ranching. I won’t make the land payments or pay the taxes, but I will give them free consulting to get started. I only wish I had someone who would have made me that offer when I was getting started.

Even if they don’t want my help, there are many opportunities to learn better land management than there were 30 to 60 years ago. Great books are available. There are consultants across the United States that offer lectures on the internet and social media. Some are good and some…well you get what you pay for. And there are other folks that will help as well. If you are in need of help, call me. Now is a great time to buy land!

David E. Will is a local rancher and consultant. He can be reached at (830) 629-9876.