For Sale: Cropland in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Spanning two states, Hudye Farm is the largest dryland and irrigated farm ever to be offered for sale in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.

Assembled over the past ten years, this ranch includes 17,741 acres of high quality farmlands with excellent production history, topography, soils and water conditions. Located in the top grain growing region of this area, the crops grown are primarily corn and wheat.

According to broker Bart Miller of Mason & Morse Ranch Company, this farm presents “a unique opportunity for somebody to come in—whether some local farmers or a large investor or two—to basically put themselves on the map with a 17,000-plus acre farm. Strong cash flow, strong tenants—it’s a great property.” Click here to hear a radio interview with Bart Miller about this amazing farm.*

The Hudye Farm is listed with Mason & Morse Ranch Company for $49 million. For more information, contact Bart Miller at (970) 928-7100.

*Interview provided by Brownfield Radio Network.

33 – Koch Family – 230,000 acres

Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels, Stainmaster carpet—these are a few of the consumer products produced by Koch Industries, one of the world’s largest privately held companies. Among the family’s holdings are the Matador Cattle Company in Texas and another 92,000 acres in Montana, all of which are deeded. In addition, the company leases 10,000 acres in Kansas and another 100,000-plus acres in Montana.

10 – Huber Family – 600,000 acres

Started in 1883 by Joseph Maria Huber, the New Jersey-based J.M. Huber Corporation has grown from a small dry-colors business into a multinational, industrially diverse company. But evenwith all this growth, at least one thing hasn’t changed: The Huber family is still minding the store, and the corporation is one of the largest family-owned businesses in the country. The land holdings of Huber’s natural resources division include 600,000 acres across the country. The company has timberland in Maine, Oklahoma, and the Southeast, and its oil and gas properties can be found in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Utah.

1. Ted Turner – 2 million acres

Why on earth would one man own 20 properties in 10 states, a swath of America so large that it not only dwarfs Rhode Island, but also exceeds both Rhode Island and Delaware combined? The answer is astonishingly simple. Because he’s Ted Turner.

The man is incapable of thinking small. That’s how he made his fortune, first by buying a failing UHF station and transforming it into WTBS. Then he launched CNN. Then he acquired the MGM movie library. Then he rolled out Turner Classic Movies. With Turner, one idea begets another, which is how he became the country’s leading land baron.

The brainstorm behind his far-flung empire was a single bison he bought in 1976. Three decades later, he owns 40,000, the largest private herd in the country. Bison steaks and bison burgers from Turner Ranches are shipped to upscale grocers coast to coast and served at his chain of restaurants, Ted’s Montana Grill.

Along the way, he purchased 14 ranches in 7 western states: 4 in Montana, 4 in Nebraska, and 3 others in South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma. In New Mexico alone, he owns more than 1 million acres.

“I acquired more land because I required more land. I wanted it,” Turner said in a 2004 interview. “I never like to buy anything except land. It’s the only thing that lasts.”

The Turner portfolio also includes personal homes in the Atlanta area and in Big Sur, as well as plantations in South Carolina and Florida, where his beloved Avalon lies. This treasured retreat encompasses more than 25,000 acres south of Tallahassee, and with a conservationist’s touch, Turner is reintroducing longleaf pine on the property. The vast majority of his holdings, however, can be found on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountain West, where he stocks his bison.

Turner’s ultimate plan? According to published reports, after his death the properties will go into a trust, which his five children will manage until the last one passes away. At that point, the trust will revert to the Turner Foundation, an Atlanta-based charitable organization that Turner founded in 1990 to preserve the environment.