Farmers react to recent trend of farmland sales in St. Joseph County

 

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Following the recent trend of farmers selling their property to make way for development in recent months throughout St. Joseph County, other farmers in the area are offering their opinion on the change.

Douglas Matthys with Shady Lane Farms and Daniel Trubey-Weller, owner of Barn Swallow Farms both shared that they understood why farmers have been selling their land.

“It probably looks a lot better on paper to sell it off, especially for older farmers who have no succession plan, no one else to pass the farm onto.” Said Trubey-Weller.

“A lot of times it’s a case of ‘show me the money.’ That’s America, and that’s the right of the people that own that land to be able to choose.” Said Matthys.

Both credit a year-to-year rise in production and upkeep costs as another primary reason for the recent trend of sales.

“We try to limit how much equipment we have because the cost of repairing tractors and equipment goes up almost every year. Especially since the pandemic, all the costs of raw materials are shooting up.” Said Trubey-Weller.

Trubey-Weller also credits recent backlash from members of the community about the development of farmland into industrial buildings to people not liking the prospect of change.

Both farmers expect the trend of farmers selling their property to continue in the near future.