Real Estate

Above: The 5,000-square-foot renovated horse barn on Hammertown Road in Salisbury, CT, is on the market for $5,490,000 with 12 acres and additional barns and outbuildings. Photo by Brian Wilcox courtesy of Elyse Harney Real Estate.

In Dutchess County, where large tracts of agricultural land are more available than in neighboring Litchfield County, agricultural “farm” real estate, both agricultural farm land without residences and with farm houses, continues to be both accessible and desirable. In Dutchess County alone 37% of all property is located within an agricultural district, and much of the 47,893 acres protected by the Dutchess Land Conservancy is actively farmed. 93% of Dutchess County farms are still family owned according to the 2023 Agricultural Eight-Year Review. The number of farmers in the county has nearly doubled over the last eight years including 340 farmers who have identified themselves as new or beginning farmers. 

How much does a farm acre cost?

Purely agricultural land without housing is divided into different, very specific categories in New York including general agriculturally productive land, dairy, orchards, field crops, vineyards, cattle, horses, green houses, Christmas trees, and even hemp. Agriculture remains an important business, with farms contributing an estimated $50 million to the county economy adding jobs, supporting agrotourism, and improving the local quality of life. 

During the same time the number of farms has increased, their average size has decreased from 239 acres to around 160 acres.

Productive agricultural land continues to be actively acquired at an average cost of $10,000 to $15,000 an acre depending on location, quality of soil, drainage, slope, agricultural exemptions from property taxes, and whether a conservation easement is already in place. The purchase of the historic Pulver Farm with existing limitations on development rights in North East on 260 acres for $2,600,000, or $10,000 an acre is an excellent example of the cost per acre for large parcels of productive land. 

Agricultural land in Dutchess County closer to New York tends to have a higher value than Columbia County, as the chart of farm land sales in the last five years illustrates.

Existing homes on parcels of productive agricultural land are also in demand in towns like North East, Pine Plains, and Ancram with average total prices of over $1.6 million, which include some large parcels of land. One of the most expensive was 1081 Route 83 in Pine Plains, which sold for $4,050,000. That property was designed by a noted architect on 126 private 126 acres surrounded by hundreds of acres protected by conservation easements. Clearly this was more about the house and views than the value of the acreage itself. 

In contrast, existing farm home sales on agricultural land in the Town of Washington tend to be lower because of smaller parcel sizes. 

Why do people buy?

There are many reasons that people invest in agriculturally productive land, either with or without an existing residential dwelling. There are farmers who want to expand their land holdings or start a “boutique” farm. Others seek to acquire productive agricultural properties to protect open spaces with the added tax benefit of placing conservation easements on the property, which restrict development – forever. 

Then there’s the opposite motive to investing in productive agricultural land. For example, the 148-acre parcel on McGhee Hill Road was purchased by a New York real estate family in 2021 for $950,000 and is now being divided into lots for residential development. Owners, like Cobble Pond Farm, who subdivided properties decades ago, are now beginning to sell off large parcels in North East. In 2019 Cobble Pond sold 98 acres on Winchell Mountain Road for $10,183 an acre, and then that buyer resold the property three years later for $2,000,000.

Existing land owners often buy adjoining land when it becomes available, to protect their view and privacy, often at a premium price, as seen in the recent purchase of 58.3 acres on Mill Road for $2,650,000. 

Long-time residents like John Dyson see a new use for agricultural buildings. Dyson, who converted a dairy in Millbrook into a vineyard with tasting room, bought land in Wassaic with a converted barn and created a destination distillery and special event space. Figuring out a contemporary use within zoning restrictions for large barns that are no longer needed to store hay or cows is critical to their preservation. 

Many buyers of agricultural land with an existing farm house or potential home site are looking at sustainability and a connection to the land and to history. Such purchases are not for the faint of heart. One young couple who bought a 34-acre abandoned farm in New York with silos and barn walls were “surprised by how much history there is in old farm land, buried debris, broken plates, old iron pitchforks, and tractor seats but also daffodils planted decades ago and stone walls, herbs, and arrowheads. It gives you a sense that you are a steward of this land, and what you put it into remains for hundreds of years. Getting it operational has been tremendously more work, more time consuming, and more expensive than we could have ever imagined. However, we learn something new every day, and with patience every year we have more fruit, more hay, and more flowers. It’s a hugely satisfying never ending project.” 

What’s on the market now

Prime farm/ag properties, despite low inventory, are available in New York and Connecticut. In North East 5 Homestead Farm Lane, one of the last remaining unrestricted working farms in the Town of North East, has 248 acres listed at $3,400,000, or $13,710 an acre. Livingston in Columbia County has 147 acres of land for sale at $1,299,000. Agricultural properties are distinct from estates, whose primary characteristic is a large grand residence like the Hitchcock estate in Millbrook, listed at $65,000,000 with 2,079 acres or the 185-acre horse farm on Butts Hollow Road for $12,950,000.

Grassland Farm in Salisbury, Connecticut has preserved the 1870 Scoville dairy barns on Hammertown Road and a renovated horse barn for today’s living. William Colgan, who resides in a Lakeville barn, purchased the property after the Town of Salisbury declined to let Chinese dissident artist, Ai Weiwei use the barns for making art. Colgan views the property as the “story of agriculture.” These large barns were originally built to store hay to feed dairy cows and horses. Today the pasture is grazed by 100 beef cattle with hay stored outside in white plastic marshmallow bales, and the dairy barns are looking for a modern purpose. The renovated horse barn with soaring 45’ ceilings could not be more contemporary, with radiant heat, dramatic entertaining spaces, and five primary bedrooms, while still retaining the beams, exposed stone foundation, and materials of the original barn. “This is built to last another 100 years,” Colgan said proudly. “It’s a quiet space, inspired by history with functionality added. The views from every side make you feel the connection with animals and the land. It’s currently for sale for $5,490,000 on 12.2 acres by Elyse Harney Morris and Holley LeiBrock of Elyse Harney Real Estate.

Agricultural land is going up in value

They are not making more agricultural land, and the values per acre are rising. Providing you have the required number of acres and a farmer willing to work your land, agricultural land qualifies for special property tax treatment, which reduces the holding costs normally associated with land. Since 2019, both the annual number of purchases of all categories of agricultural land and the value per acre have increased sharply. By the end of 2024, the value of an acre of North East agricultural land had more than doubled in the last five years from $10,185 to $24,703 an acre. In Ancram, which now averages four transactions a year, the value has increased even more, from $5,504 per acre in 2019 to $27,683 an acre, including a very expensive horse farm, usually the highest price of any type of agricultural land.

Regardless of purchasing motive, agricultural land seems like a good investment. •