[kfcm]

I'm guessing you didn't grow up on a farm.

There will always be some farmland effectively for sale; but there will also be other farmland which will never be for sale, no matter what the cost. The latter are generally "homeplaces", which have been in the family for generations. Heritage, blood, sweat, and years of hard work bind you to the soil, the land. It's more than an emotional attachment--it's almost spiritual, almost core identity.

It's an essential part of you and who you are.

[danieltillett]

It is amazing to see the effect of this in the wild - the land owns the people and it is basically impossible to sell. I have seen people who own land worth 10s of million of dollars live like paupers because they are so tied to the land.

I have wondered how much this effect is genetically built into us - there really is something different about how people view farmland compared to every other asset.

[yters]

Farmland is essentially a complete livelihood, whereas other land is just a place to park a house.

[danieltillett]

Yes, but so is a business and it doesn't seem to induce the same type of ownership.

[soundwave106]

To be honest, I'm willing to bet that the sense of history you get with a multi-generational family farm, probably is matched in other multi-generational family businesses as well.

(However, most businesses don't have the option of the ultimate fallback of subsistence farming if times got really rough. :) )

[jokermatt999]

A business supplies you with currency to trade for the basic necessities. A farm can provide those directly.

[_Codemonkeyism]

Or a wind turbine.

[visarga]

Beautifully said.