Resources

Field notes on land decisions

Plain-language guides to the choices a landowner actually faces: cash rent and land value, water and flood risk, evaluating a solar or wind lease, conservation programs, and buying or inheriting ground. Grounded in the federal data behind a Scout report.

August 19, 2026

What to Check Before You Close on Land: Title, Easements, Drainage Liens, and Mineral Rights

A plain-language guide to the four diligence gaps buyers, heirs, and investors most often skip before closing on land: title issues, conservation easements, drainage liens, and severed mineral rights, with a clear case for checking the parcel yourself before signing.

August 17, 2026

Why the County Cash Rent Average Doesn't Apply to Your Parcel

County-level cash rent averages blend wet, rocky, and full-tillable ground into one meaningless number; this post shows landowners how to check their parcel's actual drainage class and tillable-acre percentage instead of anchoring to the county blend.

August 12, 2026

What Should I Charge for a Solar or Wind Lease? Not Whatever Dave Got.

Landowners negotiating solar and wind leases this growing season are anchoring on secondhand neighbor numbers instead of their own parcel's sun exposure, soil rating, and flood risk data, a mistake developers are happy to let stand. This piece breaks down what actually drives lease value on a specific parcel and how to pull real federal data before any lease conversation.

August 10, 2026

"That's Market Rate": What a Solar or Wind Developer Isn't Telling You About Your Comps

When a solar or wind developer calls an offer 'market rate,' landowners should ask what comps back that claim up, since identical acreage in the same county can swing 30% in value based on drainage and bedrock depth alone. This post explains the soil science in plain terms and shows how to pull USDA NRCS data on both your parcel and the developer's comps before signing.

August 5, 2026

I Inherited Farmland. What Do I Do With It Now?

Heirs to farmland face a tax and land-use puzzle before the first bill even arrives; this post explains how to use Agriterra Scout's free parcel analysis and Full Land Report to see soil, flood risk, and USDA program eligibility before deciding whether to keep, lease, enroll, or sell.

August 3, 2026

How to Read Your County's USDA Soil Survey in Plain English (Before You Sign a Lease or Set a Price)

This post translates the USDA NRCS soil survey into plain English, explaining what drainage class and productivity rating actually mean for a parcel's value, and shows landowners, buyers, heirs, and lenders how to use those two data points as leverage in a rent negotiation or purchase decision instead of accepting someone else's number.

July 29, 2026

How to Find Out What Your Neighbors Signed for Their Solar or Wind Lease

A plain-language guide for landowners who've received a solar or wind lease offer this summer, explaining why the first offer favors the developer and how to pull real, federally-sourced comps on your own parcel before countering.

July 27, 2026

How to Read Your USDA Soil Productivity Score (Before Someone Else Uses It Against You)

This post explains what a USDA soil productivity rating actually measures, why lenders and crop insurers already use it to price land, and how landowners can pull the same federal data through Agriterra Scout before signing a lease, sale, or loan.

July 23, 2026

AgriTerra Joins AgriNovus Indiana's 2026 Velocity Cohort

AgriTerra has been selected for AgriNovus Indiana's 2026 Velocity cohort — one of twelve startups in the state's agbioscience accelerator, and one of four in its Farmer-Focused Innovation track. What the program is, and why it fits what we're building.

July 22, 2026

Your Soil Already Has a Rating. Here's How to Read It.

Most owners can quote their county's per-acre average but have never opened the free USDA soil survey that rates their own ground. That rating shapes yield, cash rent, and sale price more than the average ever will — here's how to read it.

July 20, 2026

Your County's Cash-Rent Number Isn't Your Number

Most landowners can recite their county's cash-rent average but have never checked the USDA NRCS soil data behind their own parcel, leaving them to negotiate mid-summer lease renewals blind. This piece breaks down why that gap matters and how a $39 Full Land Report (or the free parcel analysis) closes it.

July 13, 2026

What Water Does to Farmland Value (Drainage, Flooding, and Irrigation)

Whether your land drains, floods, or holds moisture through a dry stretch moves its value as much as the soil underneath — and most of it is public record. A plain-language look at the drainage, flood, and irrigation data that belong in your land's price.

July 6, 2026

Solar and Wind Lease Royalty Rates in Your County: How to Know If a Developer's Offer Is Actually Competitive Before You Sign Away 20+ Years of Income

Solar and wind lease rates are driven by public federal data, NREL irradiance, wind speed, USDA NASS cash-rent benchmarks, and Agriterra Scout puts that data in plain language before a single counter-offer is made. This post walks landowners through what sets rates, what lease terms get overlooked, and why a $39 Full Land Report is the pre-negotiation step that changes the conversation.

June 23, 2026

Detecting Late-Season Corn Leaf Diseases During R4-R5: Scouting Northern Corn Leaf Spot and Gray Leaf Spot to Protect Kernel Fill

At R4, the kernel fill race is already underway. Every functional leaf in the upper canopy — ear leaf and above — is contributing directly to the photosynthate supply that determines final kernel…

June 20, 2026

What Your Farmland Is Actually Worth (Beyond the Per-Acre Guess)

The 'going rate per acre' is a starting point, not an answer. Tillable ratio, soil productivity, water, and energy-lease potential move the number more than most owners expect.