If you're at all involved in or even adjacent to production agriculture, you've probably heard the stories that start along the lines of, "I could have bought that farm for two quarters and a button." I'm paraphrasing here.
Another might talk about what they paid for a farm “back when.” When you study trend lines and values, a farm bought 40 years ago is a bit like the house bought around the same time. And today, it elicits the same response from those in the market for either.
"Shoulda, coulda, woulda." Or something like that.
Think you missed out?
The reality is that two quarters and a button was a lot back then — if you catch my drift. So was the $80,000 spent on the house that's now worth $1 million.
The same is true when you apply it to production agriculture. One must be careful comparing the two without realizing those folks still had to make the interest and principal payments. The older generations weren't living in today's economy any more than we're living in theirs.
The farmer buying land in 1978 wasn't comparing prices to 2026. He was comparing them to his own balance sheet, his own interest rate and his own risks. Many of today's successful landowners remember buying land that felt outrageously expensive at the time. The exact same thing happened in housing.
My parents' generation thought homes were expensive. Their parents thought homes were expensive. The next generation will probably think today's buyers had it easy. The reality is that every generation believes they missed the opportunity.
That doesn't mean there aren't legitimate challenges facing beginning farmers today. A young farmer trying to get started today faces capital requirements that would have been hard to imagine a few generations ago. A quarter of land, a combine, a tractor and a few implements can represent several million dollars in assets.
Agriculture has become incredibly efficient, productive and technologically advanced. The downside is that efficiency often comes with a larger price tag.
The bar to entry has indeed moved higher. Does that make it inherently harder? Well, it depends on your perspective.
From a financial standpoint, you could certainly make that argument. But from a way-of-life perspective, I think it's hard to argue against the fact that technology and efficiency have made many aspects of farming easier overall. All but gone are the days of picking rock by hand for days on end. Farming today still requires plenty of hard work, but it's a different kind of hard work than previous generations faced.
A young family trying to buy its first house feels much the same way. Starter homes aren't what they used to be. Neither are starter farms. That's where I think many people get hung up. They compare today's entry point to someone else's finish line.
Stories leave out hard parts
Most stories about successful farmers start after they've become successful. We hear about the land they bought in 1984. We don't hear much about the equipment that constantly broke down, the second job they worked, the years they rented ground before buying any, or the sleepless nights wondering how they were going to make the next payment.
The same holds true in housing. People remember the house selling for $80,000. They tend to forget what their paycheck was at the time, how high interest rates were and the sacrifices required to make it work.
Memory has a funny way of smoothing out the rough edges. None of this is meant to suggest it's easy. Starting a farm today is hard. Buying land is hard. Buying a first home is hard. But difficult and impossible are not the same thing.
Every year, land changes hands. Every year, beginning farmers find a way to get started. Some rent land. Some partner with family. Some buy a small tract. Some build equity through custom work or livestock before ever purchasing a quarter. All of it involves risk, by the way — of going broke or it not working out.
The path may not look exactly like it did for previous generations, but opportunity still exists for those willing to pursue it. The details change. Human nature doesn't.
The young family buying their first home and the young farmer buying their first quarter probably have more in common than they realize.
Both are looking at prices and wondering if they're crazy. Both are wondering if they missed their chance.
It is never easy! It just looks that way after the fact. The future is built by people willing to take a risk when everyone else is busy talking about how good the past used to be.