“The main reason for land coming on the market is usually either a decision to sell due to generational change or land in more urban areas selling for uses other than farming,” Jay Van Gorden of Farmers National said in a July forecast.
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Several recent high-profile economic development initiatives in the state are using farmland. They include:
- The megasite under development in Genesee County, where of 1,300 acres under contract, much is farmland.
- A new hyperscale data center, where developers had sued Saline Township for permission to build on 575 acres of farmland.
- The planned home for an electric vehicle battery factory near Big Rapids, where Gotion had planned to build, largely on over 250 acres of agricultural land.
Farmland for some megasites — such as in Mundy Township in Genesee County — can fetch $15,000 to $30,000 an acre, far above the state average of $6,800 per acre for non-development land.
The average US data center land transaction is now 224 acres, according to commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. That is “driven by the need for multi-building campuses and future expansion,” the brokerage says.
“Land is worth what you could put on it,” Jim Porth, a commercial real estate agent at Thomas Duke Co. of Farmington HIlls, told Bridge.
In Washtenaw County, Porth said national homebuilders also are able to pay more for land because they have the resources to gain higher unit counts on property that otherwise may be zoned for up to 10-acre lots.
When used for agricultural purposes, farmland across the state varies due to location and demand.
Agriculture property can sell for $5,000-$10,000 per acre in west Michigan, according to real estate website Land Boss, climbing in southwest Michigan to $8,000-$12,000 per acre.
Non-agricultural, remote land in the Upper Peninsula might be found for $1,000 per acre, while the same type of property in more-developed east Michigan could cost up to $15,000 per acre.
Institutional investors continue to seek farmland, industry experts said. Among them are international companies, a move that’s prompted scrutiny. Legislation has sought to limit foreign land ownership after deals resulted in Singapore owning 5% of the Upper Peninsula.
And while farmland values are up in Michigan, the number of properties on the market is nearly one-third fewer than seen during the pandemic — leaving the lower supply also a likely reason for the price gains.
That could change with the economy, Van Gorden said.
“With ongoing uncertainty in both the agricultural and overall economies, we may see more land being offered on the market to pay down debt, generate operating capital, or because of operator retirement,” Van Gorden said.
Meanwhile, the state continues to lose farmland, with 300,000 fewer acres used for farming purposes in 2022 than in 2017, the most recent census shows.
The loss represents about 3% of the state’s 9 million agricultural acres, much of it attributed to urban growth spreading into farming areas.
There are 44,000 farms in Michigan with about 150,000 workers. The agricultural industry, including food processing, generated over $2 billion in economic impact, the state says.
Many farmers are still working through new tariffs set by the Trump administration, which prompted big drops in exports compared to last year. In the first half of 2025, Michigan soybean meal exports fell by 46% , wheat exports declined 89%, fresh cherry exports fell 62% and fresh apple exports declined 58%, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
