Now is a good time to buy farmland

Agricultural land is a good investment, whether it’s purchased by farmers and ranchers who want to increase their acreage or investors who want to diversify their portfolio. And now is an excellent time to buy land, after the crops are harvested and before the new ones are planted, according to Dirk Talley, owner/broker of Show-Me Real Estate in Smithville, Mo.

When it comes to agricultural and rural land in the Kansas City area, the agents at Show-Me Real Estate are experts with a broad knowledge of cropland, pasture land, and hunting and recreational properties. They currently have a variety of listings available and three of them demonstrate the scope of those listings.

One available property at 20630 Mount Bethel Road, Weston, Mo., offers more than 400 acres that is now a cattle ranch which includes a lovingly restored early 1900s stone home and a historic tobacco barn which is restored to its original condition.

“The current owner took the house down to the studs and rebuilt it to its original look,” Talley said. “This house has a historic look but with brand new fixtures, wiring and plumbing. It has stone work inside and out, new Anderson windows and a finished basement. All of the sidewalks around the house and garage are heated, so you never have to shovel snow.”

The property also includes a 60- by -120-foot outbuilding, two-thirds of which is a machine shop and the other third is for sheltering cattle. The entire property has new fencing and well maintained gravel roads. It sits on the Missouri River bluffs on the back side of Snow Creek Ski Resort, offering commanding views of the surrounding area.

Talley said the entire 400-plus acres with the house, tobacco barn and outbuilding can be purchased for $2,450,000 or the buyer can purchase 200 acres, including the house and cattle land but not the tobacco barn, for $1,495,000.

Another unique investment opportunity is a 1,000-acre farm on U.S. 169 near Gower, Mo., which Talley said is currently one of the premier cow/calf operations in Missouri but the land is more than 87 percent tillable.

“How many times does an opportunity to own a farm of this the size and quality occur?” Talley said. “A thousand acres, more or less, that is contiguous with the exception of 240th Street splitting the west half sections.”

He added the land is part of an estate and has been owned by the same family since the early 1960s. About 300 acres are in row crops and the rest is pasture and hay land, but it has highly productive soils that could be used for crops. The land includes two ponds, a house built in the 1980s and an outbuilding. It is about eight miles north of Smithville on a blacktop road and is listed for $5,900,000.

The third property at 21195 Edgerton Junction Road, Dearborn, Mo., is a recreational property perfect for hunting and fishing. The 145 acres include a cabin in the woods with a covered barbecue area and a storage building. The land includes 52 acres of well developed wetland reserve property, and 40 acres of tillable land, as well as two ponds and acres of timber. Turkey, deer, geese and ducks are abundant.

“This is great for all types of hunting and has two duck blinds,” Kenny Tromp, listing agent, said. “It is a good place for four-wheelers. It was used as a family retreat, but the kids are grown and the owner decided it’s time for new owners to enjoy it.”

This property is listed at $725,000.

For information about these listings, or any of Show-Me Real Estate’s many other agricultural listings, call the Smithville office at 816-532-6101 or visit the website at show-merealestate.com.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Now is a good time to buy farmland."