LandThink

Many good reasons exist for men to buy country property—investment appreciation, family bonding and environmental stewardship. Among motives not adequately researched by academics and real-estate organizations are the T factor and the S factor.

Many more Americans own corporate stock than rural land. Why do we invest in stock, which is risky, rather than land, which is not?

What would you do if the price of gasoline—now at more than $3 per gallon—were to rise to $10? Or more? Gripe, that’s for sure. Blame somebody. Some of us would march to Washington—on foot, of course–demanding lower prices, threatening legislators with bone-dry dipsticks as we clutch dead sparkplugs in our cold hands.

If a recession is coming, is rural land a good place to have your money? The answer does not depend on what your definition of “is” is. But there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, because much depends on the severity, length and characteristics of any economic pullback.

As I write this column, it’s a sleety, slushy, miserable wintry day on my Virginia farm. It’s bone-chilly and depressing. The Inuits, I’ve read, have several dozen words to describe different types of Artic snows. Their word for this type translates as, “Really yucky.”