# Farmland Value Factors.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

AgWeb.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/these-20-factors-could-shift-your-lands-value--naa-ben-potter/


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

Here in Maine it is soil type. It used to be the condition of the forest, but that market has now left the State.

That being said, today's farm buyers are very savvy and they are going to the NRCS looking for the best soil BEFORE they search for farms. Basically they are narrowing their search by soil type first, then finding available farms in that area.

A few years ago when I bought my farm off my father, the guy assessing it shocked me when he said on an acre by acre basis, tillable land was more valuable then house lots. That is why when I convert forest back into field I make sure it is not going to be "just pasture", but able to be tilled. Not only is crop rotation good for my farm, it allows me to go from forest that is worth $1200 per acre to $3600 acre for tillable land.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Rut, have you arrived at what it costs you to clear a acre of your timber, working the ground to a presentable level stage and sowing it in grass including a reasonable labor charge for your efforts?

Regards, Mike


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

To answer your question, yes and no. I am a numbers guy so I know what it costs per acre an what my return on investment is, but I do not calculate my own labor rate.

With all my expenses included; from dozers costs, to fuel, to fertilizer and seed, it costs me $201 per acre. This is an average because it depends of course on what I have for forest to start with. Old growth is more efficient because you have bigger trees and thus get paid a lot higher for logs then you do pulp and have less stumps per acre to remove when you are done. It takes a lot less time to remove one big stump then it does a lot of stumps. But averaged out, it is just over $200 and acre.

As for the return on investment, it is about 1.5 years for hay crops and 3 years for pasture. Pasture however, is very subjective and can be hard to calculate.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

It is interesting that you bring this up. Now that I am retired, and my wife is a home-maker, we do a lot of volunteer work for a local Christian Children's Camp 7 miles from us, and they just cleared 18 acres of pasture for their horse program. I wrote a proposal to them regarding clearing that and am pretty sure they are going to have me do so.

I'll have to post that information on here. I went through and explained all the options they had such as what they could do with the stumps; bury, burn, grind, etc and the positive and negative aspects of each. How to conserve topsoil, and what machines...or what combination of machines work best.

You guys know me; I know very little about hay as I am a haylage/silage kind of farmer, but clearing land I know a lot about. I have only cleared 20 acres on my own land, in the process of 30 more, but have cleared 100's when I worked for a local earth work contractor. If people are interested, I'll post that information so people can can do the math and decide if clearing forest for them makes fiscal sense. There is a lot to it.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

One big point I missed regarding my stating was that it was $201 per acre, was that previously when I worked at the shipyard, I lacked the time to clear my own trees and had logging contractors with their feller-bunchers come in and clean out the trees. That unto itself means I lost 2/3 of the money gleaned from the harvesting of the trees to them. It was also based on leasing equipment at $3000 per week which is the gong rate for an 850 John Deere, the only machine I have ever cleared land with. (It is a big bulldozer)

That is one reason why I am now retired. I wanted to be sure I could cut my own wood, not only giving me retirement income, but also giving me enough to cover my land clearing costs. Its also why I got my own bulldozer.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

RuttedField said:


> One big point I missed regarding my stating was that it was $201 per acre, was that previously when I worked at the shipyard, I lacked the time to clear my own trees and had logging contractors with their feller-bunchers come in and clean out the trees. That unto itself means I lost 2/3 of the money gleaned from the harvesting of the trees to them. It was also based on leasing equipment at $3000 per week which is the gong rate for an 850 John Deere, the only machine I have ever cleared land with. (It is a big bulldozer)
> 
> That is one reason why I am now retired. I wanted to be sure I could cut my own wood, not only giving me retirement income, but also giving me enough to cover my land clearing costs. Its also why I got my own bulldozer.


Waiting for Dudley Dooright to come riding up and save Nell. 

Regards, Mike


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Regarding clearing:

A guy a couple miles away has a lot of land. Last I checked. 1500+/- basically in one chunk.

Anyway, I noticed a bit of forest cleared over a couple years. Pushed stumps in piles, farmed around, then eventually shook the dirt off.

Long story longer, I was told a bit more by neighbors: "little forest" was off rd and deceiving. 100 acres. And the reason he did it? They started taxing at recreational rate. He said nope.

Oh to have that checkbook for a day...


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

I feel for my neighbors. They have a bit more than me at 3200 acres with only 300 acres in fields. Good guys, know what they are doing and have been friends to us over the years, but with only a skidder, there is no way they can cut their wood off. They are not alone around here.

The government is trying to create a wood market by subsidizing biomass generating plants, and it is helping, but it is not a long term solution. Subsidies never are. In my opinion they just prolong the inevitable and make the crash landing that much harder.

Considering a nuclear power plant just went on line in New Brunswick last year and is going across new England to Boston, Hartford, Providence and New York City, how can biomass boilers compete. From the North power is coming from Hydro-Dams out of Quebec.

You would not believe the number of high tension powerlines being built in New England right now, but here is the kicker, the work is being done by crews from out of state. Other then hotel chains and some convenience stores seeing increased sales, it has not helped us a bit.

One bright spot in the logging industry though. A little known product called "Mat Logs" is soaring. It is 8 x 8 timbers bolted together in 16 foot by 4 foot wide sections called "mats" that are laid end to side by side to allow power companies to build temp roads across wetlands. That is booming, but they are pretty picky on what they take for "mat logs"...no rot!!


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

See them "mat logs" quite often around here......purty much all construction sites on ROW has them in place if heavy equipment is in use and wetlands are anywhere close.


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