It seems that real estate prices have been driven up all over the country by people retiring to the country or investing in real estate due to the lackluster performance of the stockmarket over the past 5 years. This along with favorable interest rates and creative financing such as interest only and ARMs has caused many to wonder about the sustainability of the current trends but that is neither here nor there. The problem that ag people both young and old face is how to acquire land for their many enterprises. However i'm sure that many of you have heard me sound off on land as an investment as should be held accountable for a return on investment. As many of you are well aware ranches have been steadily climbing in value over the past few years. I was recently looking at ranches for sale and most fell in the 4-6k per AU. Now if you figure this out with just leasing pasture to cattle either yours or others and figure 8 months at $15 you end up with $120 per AU which cost you 4-6k which gives you about a 2-3% return on your investment minus your costs for upkeep. Not really a sound investment especially if you are paying more than 2-3% in interest. Using this logic it would be cheaper to lease ground for your cattle.
Now here comes the question. How can we extract more return out of an investment in order to make it equitable? I want some out of the box thinking. As of late hunting rights has been huge as far as bringing in income. Intensive grazing can up production while fixed costs stay relatively the same. ole Mike C. raises catfish any other ideas?
Now here comes the question. How can we extract more return out of an investment in order to make it equitable? I want some out of the box thinking. As of late hunting rights has been huge as far as bringing in income. Intensive grazing can up production while fixed costs stay relatively the same. ole Mike C. raises catfish any other ideas?