Farm or Single Family Residence

[jimmyfrank]

40 acres is not a working farm....it is a hobby. Minnesota is in the top 6 in corn production and your rents there are most likely in the $200-$300/acre range for good land (maybe more, I dunno).

So there might be $12,000 in rent minus taxes, management and a possible mortgage payment. No one is getting rich off of $12,000.

As to farming it no one farms just 40 acres. A John Deere tractor costs $250,000 with no attachments. Attachments start at $50,000.

What does a Massy Furgeson cost? lol

 

[DMZwerg]

$50/acre? What do they do with that land? Here rents run $100-$200/acre for corn. Talked to a buddy in Iowa and some rents there are $400-$500/acre.

Apparently they have an access of vacant poultry farms based on other posts by Terrel. Supply & demand as not all farmland is hundreds if not thousands of contiguous acres set up to maximize efficiency of the mechanical harvesting of corn.

As for the 20 acres wooded, what is the quality of lumber? (aka, how plum for logging off?)

Now which is commercial? :laugh:

Commercial is how you look at it and what your analysis shows. Even well over 100 acres may not have H&BU of commercial if it does not fit the commercial farming uses common to the particular area, yet a different 10ac parcel could easily be under commercial agricultural use (such as having large grain bins, set up as a gathering and distribution point).

 

[Michigan CG]

....yet a different 10ac parcel could easily be under commercial agricultural use (such as having large grain bins, set up as a gathering and distribution point).

10 acres of ag land or even 100 acres of ag land is a lot different than "having large grain bins". Those large grain bins would be called Grain Elevators. I have appraised a couple of those. Did one on about 3-4 acres a couple years ago. I think the value was around $3M.

Grain elevators are definitely commercial....10, 50 or 100 acres of land....it depends.

 

[DMZwerg]

10 acres of ag land or even 100 acres of ag land is a lot different than "having large grain bins". Those large grain bins would be called Grain Elevators. I have appraised a couple of those. Did one on about 3-4 acres a couple years ago. I think the value was around $3M.

Grain elevators are definitely commercial....10, 50 or 100 acres of land....it depends.

No, I am talking grain BINS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grain_elevator8089.JPG

not a grain elevator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grain_elevators_on_a_farm_in_Israel.jpg

Difference in my book is a matter of scale, and I have never seen steel grain bins loaded by augers (or older style wheeled farm elevators with multiple use for bales or grain) not bucket elevators. Besides, if the smaller grain bins were are large as the clearly commercial concrete silos they would likely burst seems. Despite what the picture name states I have never heard of the former called a "grain elevator" as I know many local farmers that have small versions either on the farm itself or located on a parcel close to the interstate, used as a collection point for the (relatively small) farm. We don't have many 1000+ acre farms in these parts (heck, you rarely see 200+ acre parcels, let alone more).

 

[Couch Potato]

No, I am talking grain BINS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grain_elevator8089.JPG

not a grain elevator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grain_elevators_on_a_farm_in_Israel.jpg

Difference in my book is a matter of scale, and I have never seen steel grain bins loaded by augers (or older style wheeled farm elevators with multiple use for bales or grain) not bucket elevators. Besides, if the smaller grain bins were are large as the clearly commercial concrete silos they would likely burst seems. Despite what the picture name states I have never heard of the former called a "grain elevator" as I know many local farmers that have small versions either on the farm itself or located on a parcel close to the interstate, used as a collection point for the (relatively small) farm. We don't have many 1000+ acre farms in these parts (heck, you rarely see 200+ acre parcels, let alone more).

You realize Dart's initial "perfection" of Evan's grain elevator idea was made of wood and not as large as those "bin" pictures labeled elevators don't you?

 

[residentialguy]

40 acres is not a working farm....it is a hobby. Minnesota is in the top 6 in corn production and your rents there are most likely in the $200-$300/acre range for good land (maybe more, I dunno).

So there might be $12,000 in rent minus taxes, management and a possible mortgage payment. No one is getting rich off of $12,000.

As to farming it no one farms just 40 acres. A John Deere tractor costs $250,000 with no attachments. Attachments start at $50,000.

Not saying that the one farming it has only 40 acres. Many have multiple lots. They also may be having someone farming it (which is what you are referring to as "rent"?)

 

[CANative]

Do some more research. It's not likely that if someone does use the land for some sort of agricultural endeavor that they have violated the terms of the agreement with the jurisdiction. These types of agreements (like the Williamson Act in California) are an agreement not to develop or subidivide to a more intensive or non-ag use (SFR is not a non-ag use). In return they get favorable taxes.

Value the land and improvements accordingly.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Value the land and improvements accordingly.

The constitution of our state (and many others) require farmland as small as 1 acre, to be taxed at a lower rate. That has absolutely nothing to do with the HBU of the property. land laying inside a city limits and zoned commercial is taxed as agriculture if it is actually used for agriculture and not being developed. And some parcels in cities zoned as agriculture (Ag-1, etc.) are not used for agriculture thus are taxed as commercial or vacant land.

A farm can be small or large and be economic. 40 ac. of vegetable garden or orchard may well be an economic size. Tractors do come cheaper. Only the largest farms need $250,000 tractors. Many of our hay farms produce with 60 hp tractors costing less than $40,000 and a small square baler can be bought for $20,000 or less.

A poultry farm on 20 acres can cost $1,000,000 or more. And I just saw where a rough old farm auctioned for $350 an acre, mostly floodable pasture, woodlot and steep hillsides, over 200 acres.

But I would say that the intention of the owner and the actual income would be the best test of a farm. The USDA definition is a very low bar. I think it is any place CAPABLE (not necessarily actually making) of producing $1000 annually in agricultural products. That's a few good calves...40 bushel of walnuts...<100 bushels of soybeans...etc.

 

[residentialguy]

50 acres of tillable land = SFR? Wouldn't HBU come into play...or is that too much of a land mine? Just trying to learn here, as I don't appraise that large of acreage.

 

[DMZwerg]

You realize Dart's initial "perfection" of Evan's grain elevator idea was made of wood and not as large as those "bin" pictures labeled elevators don't you?

Yes ...

... and I also can rattle off the maximum number of acres per day humans could achieve hand picking corn.

Doesn't make the current bins equatable to a grain elevator.