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Land rush: Boom times on the farm

Star Tribune exclusive: Land rush

Part 1: High cropland prices in Midwest sow fortune and worry

The agriculture industry is riding high, leading to a wave of expansion driving up the cost of cropland. Ever-new record prices raise worries the bubble is about to burst. Updated Jun. 24, 2012
- For sellers, land provides the jackpot of their dreams
- Interactive graphic: Rich harvest

This occasional Star Tribune series explored the implications of rapidly rising prices for farmland in Minnesota.

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Marc Schober

Part 2: Hot investments turn from the stock market to farmland
Article By: JENNIFER BJORHUS ,Star Tribune Publish June 24, 2012 2:00 AM / Update June 24, 2012 7:10 AM
Investors of every stripe flock to the nation's breadbasket.

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Video:

Soaring farm prices bring wealth and worries

Graphic:

Interactive graphic: Rich harvest

With skyrocketing farmland prices and crop insurance guarantees, black...

For sellers, land provides the jackpot of their dreams
Article By: JENNIFER BJORHUS , Star Tribune Publish June 17, 2012 2:00 AM / Update June 16, 2012 10:02 PM
The windfall that comes from selling the family farm is helping remake rural areas.

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Darwyn Bach and his children spent a recent day picking rocks from a cornfield. He says insurance has fed increases in his farm rent.

Part 3: Farmers' safety net is now a money bag
Article By: JENNIFER BJORHUS , Star Tribune Publish July 5, 2012 2:00 AM / Update July 5, 2012 6:44 AM
Many crop insurance policies guarantee a profit, which, some say, feeds competition - and boosts prices -- for cropland. Who pays? Taxpayers.

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In Waconia, the Siegle farm family sold nearly 80 acres for the Waterford housing development. The family later repurchased 16 acres for a fraction of their selling price.

Part 4: Farms rise again on acres where houses were planned
Article By: MIKE HUGHLETT , Star Tribune Publish July 10, 2012 2:00 AM / Update July 20, 2012 8:26 AM
The housing bust and commodity boom have altered land-use patterns at the edge of suburbia.

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Mark Vogel, with his wife, Joanna, and children, farms with sister Melissa Hemmings, far left, and brother Ivan Vogel, right.

Part 5: Flush times draw newcomers to farming
Article By: MIKE HUGLETT , Star Tribune Publish July 15, 2012 2:00 AM / Update July 20, 2012 8:26 AM
High crop prices are attracting a new generation, but risks remain.

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