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New Look for Landcroc.com

(Cover Shot is the Mouth of the Aucilla River)

After a long hiatus and continuous ribbing from friends and past clients, I am updating my Ramblings.  We have given our website a fresh new look courtesy of Summerhill Creative.  Thank you, Jeff and Kayla!  We started the website landcroc.com back in 2002 I believe.  Since then this is about the third time we have updated the site.  I have never been one much for tooting my horn or being the pushy salesperson type, but I have always prided myself on having good content and excellent material on our website when it comes to marketing the properties we are trying to sell.  I value your input.  Please let me know what you like or don’t like on the site and maybe we can fine-tune it a little more.  We have always tried to keep the site simple and to the point.  Two features of the site I would encourage you to pay attention to are the Multiples Listing Service link at the bottom of the Land Page, Residential Page, and Commercial Page and the Map/Video Link at the bottom of each Property Bio.  The MLS link will give you access to every listing in our MLS that has been uploaded by each REALTOR.  We (Crocker Realty) can represent or show you any of these listings even though they are listed by other companies.  The MAP/VIDEO link in most cases will have a MapRight link with a Video attached that will automatically play once you open the link.  The MapRight link is an unbelievable resource for researching properties.  Take time to look around on the MapRight page when it opens.  You have multiple base maps from which to choose and on each map, you can select different overlays such as flood maps, soil maps, opportunity zones, wetlands, etc.    The list of layers you can look at is incredible.  Our GA Chapter of the REALTORS Land Institute offered a MapRight course here in Thomasville in 2022. 

The Rambling session of the website is just what it says, Ramblings.  Not incoherent Ramblings but more like my observations or personal experiences that I think are informative, helpful, or just sometimes amusing.  Keep in mind this is not legal or financial advice.  I like to think that my background, my education, and my 30 years of being licensed give me excellent insight into working with real estate.  Working with Dad, who has been in Real Estate for what seems like forever in Thomasville, has been invaluable when it comes to being able to draw from his experience.  I recognize red flags or opportunities and have the knowledge to point them out and make suggestions for buyers or sellers to have a conversation with an attorney, an accountant, a forester, a pond builder, or someone who is professionally trained in an area that I am not.  Just last year I was working with a buyer and in our conversations, I learned he was amid an eminent domain sale and would be using those proceeds to fund his purchase.  He was going to use a 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange to complete the sale.  I suggested he talk with his accountant and do some research on a 1033 Tax Deferred Exchange which deals with the Involuntary Conversion of property.  He went with a 1033 Exchange.  That was REALTORS Land Institute training being used.

On Real Estate:

We are now at Interest Rates that many REALTORS have never seen for real estate.  Low inventory for both homes and land has kept our prices and demand strong and for the most part, with very little correction in price despite the high-interest rate.  One observation I have made is that in residential sales more buyers are asking for more closing costs to be paid by the seller.  Where $2K or $3K may have been a more normal request for sellers to pay, recently I have received more requests for over $10K in closing costs to be paid by the seller.   I have conflicting opinions on this, but I will add, in pre-meltdown days you saw many contracts with very little money paid down and buyers asking for money to help with the down payment.   There were other factors but ultimately things did not work out so well for a lot of folks back then.  You can’t argue that the more you put into something the more committed you are to it. 

The phone continues to ring with buyers looking for property.  I have always been one of the biggest fans of the Thomasville Area.  The Plantations (Built-in Greenspace), the proximity to the Gulf Coast, and a short hop to Georgia’s East Coast are just a few elements that appeal to me that work together to make this a great area to live, work, and play.  Apparently, many people must think the same way.  The Plantations make up a huge part of Thomas County.  I paired a 1908 Historical Map with a Plantation Overlay that really drives this point home in a visual way.

Now that is a good visual representation of Plantations in Thomas County.

We just sold property the other day to someone from California and we had buyers from Islamorada, FL, and Hawaii in the background wanting to move on the property if the contract fell out.  This is a scenario in common with other REALTORS as well.

 I had a conversation with a Para-Legal the other day from one of our larger law firms and she asked how well our contracts were holding together and offered up that they were having a lot of buyers backing out in the middle or toward the end of the buying process.  I told her we were seeing the same thing in our office.  Conversations with other brokers confirm the same.  This past year and currently, it feels like we are doing twice the work for ½ the production.  Back to Inventory, as of 4/8/23, there were 172 residential listings in the Thomasville Area Board MLS.  To put that in perspective, there were 488 Active residential listings back on February 2, 2015.  Low supply, High Demand.  I have attached a graph showing yearly residential sales with data taken from our MLS going back to 2008.  Click on the Link Below to see a line graph of residential sales from the Thomasville Area Board of REALTORS.  This data is comprised of sales entered by area REALTORS from all the different companies represented in the Thomasville Area Board of REALTORS.   Most of the residential sales are in Thomasville/Thomas County.

15 yr Thomasville Area Board of REALTORS MLS DATA Residential Sales Chart

On Easter:

We celebrated Good Friday yesterday.  We will celebrate the resurrection on Easter tomorrow.  I remember my pastor from my youth, Mr. Jim Armstrong. I called him Mr. Jim.  He and his wife Mrs. Nita are in heaven now.  He always had a million-dollar smile, and he would say at Easter, “He is Risen!” and the congregation would reply, “He is risen indeed!”  He was a big part of my life growing up.  The Bible talks about Love covering a multitude of sins.  Jesus being crucified for our sins is just that, Love covers a multitude of sins.  Easter is a great time just to let go and just give it all to God!  I struggle with trying to maintain control of things I can’t control.  I am a Christian and have accepted Jesus as my Savior but I still struggle. But I always know to keep coming back to God. I try to read my Bible like taking vitamins. It helps.  As good as the best Christian is, that person is still a sinner and is guilty as anyone else.  Jesus gave his life to cover all that sin and guilt; past, present, and future. Sometimes when I get jacked up over problems or over people causing those problems, I must remind myself that Jesus loves that person just as much as he loves me.  That gets my head on right.  It’s like the preacher says, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.”  My sin is just as bad as anyone else’s sin.  We are all the same and Jesus loves us all…equally.  

On Hunting and Fishing:

Tall Timbers Research held their GA/FL Turkey Invitational yesterday.  Colin and I did not participate this year.  I did notice that this year’s winners of both the Main Event and the Adult with the Youth Event, have both purchased farms from Crocker Realty in the past.   I still remember the different tracts they purchased.  Colin, my son, won the Tall Timbers youth event a few years back and shot his bird with his Granddad’s shotgun.  It was his first bird!  What a great hunt!  Mr. Bellamy of Bellamy Boats of Thomasville, GA allowed us to hunt on his family property. That hunt was with no scouting and no game cameras.  How about them apples?  Thankful for Mr. Bellamy!

Tall Timbers is a great organization whose efforts benefit the wildlife, the land, and the people of our area.  I have attached two documents that Tall Timbers put out on the Aucilla and Ochlocknee Rivers that run through Thomas County.  If you have property on either of these two rivers or you hunt or fish on these rivers you should take a look.

AucillaRiver OchlockoneeRiver

 Do you want to learn about prescribed fire ecology and what it means to our area?  Set up a wagon tour at Tall Timbers, it will open your eyes and make you a believer in prescribed fire and controlled burning.

Jumping to Fly-Fishing!  That’s my thing.  I took an Orvis Fly Fishing Class back around 1995 at Mays Pond Plantation and later in 1999 earned my Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Fly Casting Instructor certification.   I love showing folks how to get their casting on track.   I and some buddies are headed to the Everglades next week to camp out on chickees over the water about 30 miles south of Chokoloskee, FL.  Tarpon and Snook are the primary targets.  This trip is worth putting up with the no-see-ums and mosquitoes. We will be sure to keep an eye out for Pythons!  I need to dig out my copy of A Land Remembered and get my mind right.  That book is a great read.  If you are tied to the land, cattle, citrus, or Florida…you really need to read this Book!  Should be required reading for Georgia Land Brokers working with buyers coming out of Florida.   My family migrated down into Miami back in the day when that area of Florida was going great guns.   My dad was born down there!  I actually sold a 500+ acre ranch up here in Boston, GA because the owner’s Mom and My Grandma attended Allapattah Baptist Church together down in Miami way back when.  Pretty cool.  Pics of Everglades camping adventure from a couple of years back. 

On Family:

I am blessed beyond measure.  Charlotte has been helping me at the office while looking for work in the medical field using her coding degree. Emmaline is working at the YMCA and going to school at Southern Regional.  It looks like Colin will be attending Mercer in the Fall and he continues to move towards graduation and keeping his part-time job at Onward Reserve in Downtown Thomasville.  Kayce continues to be my best friend and I look forward to going places with her…really does not matter where  (As long as I can bring my Fly Rod!).  She and I did a Road trip to the REALTORS Land Institute National Land Conference last year in San Antonio.  We traveled back through Texas, to Natchez, Mississippi, and then back down to Mobile Bay and Fair Hope Alabama!  What a great trip.  I am blessed.

I am about all Rambled out…..will try to update sooner than later.

blog 3

Update on the Market

If you were to judge the current real estate market by the number of new real estate agents jumping into the market, you would come to the conclusion that we have a pretty strong real estate market in our area! Consider these numbers taken from the Thomasville Area Board of REALTORS MLS. In the first half of 2015 there were about 304 residential properties that had sold. At the mid year point in 2016 there had been around 328 residential sales. That is a decent bump. This gradual increase is consistent with what we have seen over the past 4 years. (See Old Ramblings) Check this out. In the first half of 2015 there were only 5 residential properties that sold for over $500,000.0. The first half of 2016 had 13 Residential properties sell that were listed for over $500,000.000. That is a huge jump! While Farm land has not really been that hot….(although I still believe!)…..we have seen a significant increase in the demand for small acreage properties in that 10 to 50 acre size tracts, more or less. Through the first half of 2016 we have sold 3 tracts that have been on the market for years, where the owners really believed in their properties and it finally paid off with sales with strong numbers. These buyers were both local and from out of town. We have a similar property under contract now that we have folks moving back to Thomasville who are purchasing. I have not seen that much writing on it lately….but in years past you used to hear about how urban America would start moving out to the country…..I can see that a little clearer now. City Planners are pushing connectivity but with connectivity often comes loss of privacy and when you start sharing your elbow room…..eventually someone is going to get elbowed! Just saying. I think everybody should have 40 Acres and a mule. You have to keep in mind that farmland values always run in cycles and we are about 3 to 5 years out of historic high values. Yes, farmers are not making the money they were making a few years back. But you know what? Around here, those farm rents really have not dropped. I like that kind of investment. Another thing, you don’t go buying property a the top of the market…..this is why folks need to be looking at picking up Ag Land now to help diversify there investments. Lets recap…….farm rent on the land rented out to farmers has not decreased…….our residential rents have not decreased……so what does that tell us about real estate. How much interest are the banks paying you? CDs? Stocks? There you go. You buy low and you sell high. Now is the time to be picking up land/real estate. You ask any old Dirt Dog who has been peddling land for more than 20 years and he will tell you, “You make your money when you buy land, not when you sell it.” Consider the drop in Ag Land Value back in around 1983 to 1986. After that point Ag Land just stayed on a steady climb. Investing in AG Land is competitive and offers reasonable returns with low volatility. Ag land performs well in growth and inflationary periods. (Yea…..I picked that up at the conference!)

Locally what I have been seeing is that very little farmland is changing hands. I have not seen a huge drop in prices but as those properties that are on the market stay on the market with little or no activity…the price will adjust. Farmland prices haves softened which is why it is a good time to be making offers. As I mentioned earlier…the small land tracts are doing well. Land Use Regulations in our area, along with a limited supply in part to significant plantation holdings in the area….create a perfect storm for keeping strong price in place for small acreage. Toss in the fact that Downtown Thomasville continues to draw folks to this area and you can see how our demand for small acreage stays pumped up. For the Thomasville Area…the old adage really does hold true,” Don’t wait to buy land, buy land and wait!” That wait will not be long in Thomas County.

When I was little I had this book. I cant remember the name but the story went like this. People were messing up the world with pollution, trash, and things of that nature. All the animals go together and took all the junk and refuse and built a wall around the last remaining forested area. When the people wanted to get in because they ruined all of their natural resources the animals would not let them in. The animals did give them seeds to plant though. The people learned their lesson….and they all lived happily ever after. Always liked that story. Thomasville reminds me of that forest that the animals walled off. We are pretty much surrounded by plantations to the South and West and a strong mix of farms and plantations to the North and East. We really do have a wall of plantations surrounding and protecting Thomasville. These plantations do a lot for us. Just the other day my kids who are 17, 14, and 11 asked to ride down New Hope Road to Millpond on the (Long Way) home and they wanted to ride in the back of the truck….just like they did when they were 4, 7, and 10. I think it would surprise folks to find out just how much red clay is in the DNA of folks from Thomas County or most rural country folk. The singers, Brooks and Dunn, knew what they were singing about! I can’t drive down one of these dirt roads or take 319 to Tallahassee and not just flat out thank God for where I live.

blog 2

National Land Conference

I just returned from the National Land Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. This was an event put on by the REALTORS Land Institute. We had about 7 of us attend that were from our GA Chapter of RLI. More than anything this is just a great networking event. One of the topics at the Land Conference was just how connected we are now….Globalization….a one world market. It is so much easier to do business and communicate these days. And information: I can’t tell you how many times I have done Crash Courses in Subject Matter that I felt I needed to brush up on before going into a meeting…..and all that information is right there on the internet. It is a different world. But as my Dad would say…..you can stay behind that computer all you want, but you still need to get in front of someone to get something sold…..and I understand that……so we are always trying to achieve that balance.

LAND CONFERENCE NOTES

We had about 3 economist talk with our group…..and the consensus was pretty much that we are still improving. The Southeast in general really looked strong. You can look at our MLS numbers for the last 4 years and really see the increase in transactions in our market. From talking with other REALTORS, 2013 was a very good year for most REALTORS. Another indicator would be to look at the number of REALTORS who got active in the business again. We saw that in our own MLS.

Back to the Southeast. The economists really pushed our ports along our Coast: Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville. They also pointed out some issues with the Panama Canal and fuel restrictions for ships coming into California as a couple of reasons making East Coast business more attractive to our European Neighbors. Add rail, road, and other infrastructure to the mix and we have a good recipe for business. For years, the demographic prognosticators have foretold of the migration to the Southeast much in part due to the climate and quality of life. Maybe life does imitate the SEC. (Missouri and Texas). Just as the Hurricanes pushed folks up from Florida, I think these winter storms we have had this year will have the same effect on our neighbors to the North. I expect a good push in recreation land this year. Don’t forget about water…..here in the SE we have about 4 states that share the Floridan Aquifer which covers about 100,000 square miles…how is that for a water supply. You think growers in California are not paying attention to that.

Staying with the Land Conference…. As always there was talk of Tax Reform for 2015-2016, with Tax Credits and 1031 Exchanges on the chopping block. Changes in Depreciation and plans of disallowing the mortgage interest deduction. (REALTORS pay lots of money through RPAC, more money than any other group or industry association out there to fight these kinds of changes that negatively affect property owners.) So you say why should I use a REALTOR, this is why. REALTORS are the ones who keep their eyes on legislation that negatively affects property owners. REALTORS are the reason you did not get that 100% increase in Transfer Tax, you still have 1031 exchanges, Mortgage Deductions, and a whole lot of other benefits that come with property ownership. REALTORS are your watchdogs.

Another topic talked on was the Clean Water Act. The folks at the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers are still trying to have jurisdiction over all waters on your property and not just the navigable water across your property. If this cannot be done through the Clean Water Act then the powers that be are looking at how this can be bone administratively by proposing new regulations. Once again this is what your REALTOR groups are watchdogging.

Flood Insurance- Changes taken place during our meeting…..Reform Bill was supposed to be passed. This is really a mess.

Farm Bill- Direct Payments Repealed, Limits place on payments, Strengthened Crop Insurance, Consolidated 23 programs into 13. Clarified Forest Roads as not a point source pollutant. People ask why are food stamp connected with the farm bill……..one explanation was that it helped garner support from both sides of the isle…..Democrats and Republicans.

Apparently the NRCS is coming out with something new….not sure exactly how to take that. What I gathered from that speaker was that the NRCS is really involved in a great deal of things. Stay tuned on that one. I do love the WEB SOIL SURVEY….a very big part of our business.

We had a 1031 Exchange Speaker- Mineral Lease is Exchangeable. And yes, conservation leases and Ag Leases are eligible for 1031 Treatment. Bill Board and Cell Phone Towers with the footprint surveyed out are eligible as well. I am sure some attorneys or tax guys will say they are not, and I would say to you talk with someone who does this type of work day in and day out, do your research. You don’t use one source in a research paper and you should not do it in life. As with anything, it is all about the details and making sure your property meets all the rules. Did you know there was a thing called a 1033 Exchange…for Condemnation Property? Better treatment on this one….still there are rules.

International Investment in Our Country- Canadians have been making a big push lately. (Canadian= Americans without Guns) So why are folks from other countries investing in US? 1. Stability/Safety of Investment 2. Best Return on Investment. 3. Easy to Buy and Own. 4. Favorable Currency Exchange. 5. Wide Variety of Choices-US has it all. So why the international focus on AG land? Supply the changing tastes of international growing middle class. Look at just the middle class of India and China……staggering…they need to lock down where their food supply will be coming from.

As told by an UGA economist that was brought down to Thomasville- Livestock Demand will be up because of increased consumer demand and lower feed prices, and row crop profits will be down because of decreased demand for Corn in ethanol production, yet fuel and fertilizer have not decreased.

On Farm Land- We have had about 4 Farm Booms in the past 100 years. The last 7 years has been the best we have seen. (US) We are in one now, but it is starting to slow. Much of this boom was probably pushed by ethanol, bio fuels, and high commodity prices. Most of our panel of economist agreed that the boom we are in is slowing. Farm Land is still king and I think populations will still push that, but we are still seeing a slowing of pulling the trigger on some transactions where there is more number crunching going on. One topic that was brought up was that of the Grain Embargo, under President Carter, and what that did to land prices and farmers. That was something that you did not see coming but was something that came as a response to an action on the other side of the world. Globalization-One Market, and even more so now if you think about it. So what do you do? Pray a whole bunch! Diversify, Have your back up plans, and Back Doors and my favorite. Have lots of Children….and maybe one will stick around the area and take care of you when you get older……built in health care.

Locally what did we see last year?

Farm Land was still awesome. Good prices. Good Demand.

We saw the bottom and in some land types, a bump of improvement. Commercial Rentals have been huge over the last couple of years. Residential rentals have always been strong. I have noticed there seems to be a lot more residential rental inventory coming into the market. Many from bank owned properties. There may be some saturation there.

Conversion of Timber Land with Good Soils, to Farm Land. Many large plantations are doing some of this. Farmers are clearing land around existing fields trying to squeeze every bit of utility they can out of their farms. You don’t have to drive far to see a shiny new irrigation pivot sitting in a field. Pecans are still huge. There has been significant acreage put in Pecans. My guess is we will have a bumper crop of pecans in about 7 years.

Residential Market steady and improving.

Downtown Thomasville on Fire……we have a commercial building under contract now with backup interest. That whole area is just jumping these days. That is really huge. I love Thomasville. We purchased a small building downtown and have both sides rented….. just a super return. We like being a part of what is going on down there.

blog 1

The Local Real Estate Market

The Local Real Estate Market (Thomasville Area)

2014 was another active year for the Thomasville Area…probably a little less active than in 2013. As always it seems we had plenty of offers, some very good but for whatever reason were just not accepted by sellers who where were holding out. Thomasville always seems to have those sales that are just tremendous “curve busters”. You can bank on a certain type of land selling for “X” number of dollars and then next thing you know, someone buys a piece of property for far and above what comps or appraisals would indicate is it worth. No fault to the buyer, if you want it and can afford it….buy it. Now you have that one comp of like kind that sellers will gravitate towards when pricing their property. Sadly and gladly, we seem to sell some of those properties and there is you double edged sword. Below are some figures from our local board MLS. These numbers should be spot on as they were taken from information submitted to our local mls by REALTORS from all real estate offices in our area.

2014: 545 Residential Sales, 70 Land Sales, 28 Commercial Sales
2013: 567 Residential Sales, 116 Land Sales, 20 Commercial Sales
2012: 500 Residential Sales, 101 Land Sales, 16 Commercial Sales
2011 439 Residential Sales, 85 Land Sales, 12 Commercial Sales
(land sale would include foreclosed subdivision lots which would inflate # land sales during this period)

2015 1st Quarter
522 Current Residential Listings
143 Residential Sales (1.5 Homes Being Sold Every Day For the First Quarter of 2015)
This is a 13% increase over the 1st quarter of 2014.
First Quarter Land Sales were up 80% over 1st Quarter of 2014. (10 Sales 2014 / 18 Sales 2015)

That is a lot to digest but it does give you a snapshot of our market and an upward trend.

I had another broker tell me one time, ” It is always the first son, the second wife, and the third broker that always gets paid!” I am not sure about the the first two of this group but that is pretty accurate regarding the broker. This goes back to pricing properties correctly. Everybody wants that home run but sometimes a single will win the game! Years ago I went to a courthouse sale with my dad in Grady County to bid on some land we had been watching. Upon arriving, it was clear that other people had been watching the same property. I knew many of these people. I also knew that many of these folks were better funded than we were. (We had already talked with the bank to see how they would work with us.) Well to my surprise we wound up with both properties. At first I could not figure this out but over time it became clearer. Many folks want that home run or that “cherry” deal and they will step all over and around a good deal….in search of a “Great Deal”. Well we purchased those two properties, cleaned them up, flagged corners, got a farmer to plant some peanuts on them and we sold those properties in 6 months. There are plenty of good deals out there. It is like making a good grade on a test. You have to study and do your homework.

We have about 100 or so REALTORS in our Local Board and all of us are pretty much running around after the same buyers and sellers. The best I can say is that we all have strengths and weaknesses and what I know is that there is still plenty of business for everyone. It is notable that we have seen more younger REALTORS join our ranks in the last couple of years. This is encouraging and I believe is an indicator of our market. The new REALTORS put pressure on the old ones to step up our game. I think one of my strengths it that I realize after 20 years in the business, I don’t know everything.(But it might surprise you what I do know.) This would explain why I spend so much time and money attending classes and conferences on land and real estate related topics. Apparently the Georgia Real Estate Commission thinks along those lines as well as they have recently increase our Continuing Education Requirement from 24 hrs to 36 hours. That is a big jump in hours.(I have a 14 Hour Florida CE Real Estate Manual waiting to be completed at my House!)

This past year we did see a noted decrease in the demand for Agricultural property in our market area. We did however see an increase in folks looking for recreational land. Our residential rental market remains strong and our commercial rentals are staying pretty much full. Currently we have a good bit of ground being broken around the Thomasville/Thomas County Area on commercial projects. Things seem good. We are very thankful.

2015 Land Conference in Orlando:
Wow!!! What a great conference. This conference is put on every year by Dean Saunders of Coldwell Banker Commercial down in Florida. They have some of the same speakers as the REALTORS Land Institute National Land Conference. Kayce did her best to wrangle a Disney Trip out of this conference but we had to pass on Mickey this time. Hopefully soon…..Disney has grown on me…..my kids are growing up way too fast. Conference…..Powerful Speakers….write out of the Blocks…AG Land, Soils, Water….and there you go. Paul Genho, PhD (President of Farmland Reserve, Inc., Retired) spoke on increasing world populations, specifically those countries and areas of highest growth rates that are unable to feed themselves. Then he spoke on the importance of soils and the importance of water. I could have left the building after he spoke. Folks, somebody has got to feed the world and it will be the United States. And would you just look at the Southeast….100,000 square miles of aquifer covering 3 states, great soils, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, the Mississippi Super Highway, Ease of Doing Business, Quality of Life, Climate, and SEC Football! Truly, GOD is Good! The Southeast is looking good and even though commodity prices are down…this is just good time to be trying to pick up Ag property. Farmland Reserve Inc. was the entity which purchased all that land from the St. Joe a while back. Dr. Genho was president of Farmland Reserve at that time.(Dr. Genho was also General Manager of King Ranch out in Texas for a time.) This guy knows his dirt! That is what he said……”Show me the dirt, let me see a soil map, let me go to the middle of this land and put my hands in the soil.” The dirt will tell you all you need to know.

I like numbers and this guy had them. Considering AG Land For Investment? Consider the following:
We in the US Spend about 6% of our income for food, most countries spend over 25% of their income on food. These percentages will rise. You can see the correlation between civil unrest and wars when compared with sharp spikes in food prices around the world. Consider food prices and the “Arab Spring.” IN the Asia/Pacific region the middle class will increase by 60% by the year 2030. When you consider food, population growth, and who has the means to produce food…..you really start seeing how Ag land is a good investment. Even though commodity prices are down, we still have farmers leasing dry land for $100 per acre. As an investment, start squeezing some money out of that land….brake out your hunting leases…..separate turkey and separate deer leases, farm lease, rental property on non performing parts of your land, crp programs, fruit/nut plantings, timber plantings, there are all kinds of ways to start pulling money out of property in addition to the farm lease. Staggering numbers this speaker was putting out….and he was citing his sources. This speaker made the statement that there had not been a decade since the 1920 that land did not exceed Standards and Poor. Weather we as U.S. citizens recognize the value of land or not, people from other countries are starting to…..and they are buying land, because they see it…they see what is going on with food prices in their own countries..they see our police power in place to protect their investments…we have just been so blessed for so long….we think things will never change. Time to start scratching your head and give land some thought as an investment. Ol’ Bill Gates has been picking up several “Small” farms in the southeast. Bill ain’t on the JV team folks…..he knows a thing or two. (Most of the above was taken from some of my notes at the conference,,,the non opinion stuff anyway.)