Why River Valley Farmland Is Different
Not all farmland is created equal. At least not when it comes to access.
On a flat grid, you can usually find another way in. A different road allowance. A quarter-line approach. A neighbor’s driveway with an agreement. Prairie geography is generous that way.
River valleys are not.
River valley farmland is shaped by slopes, coulees, tree lines, and water. That’s part of what makes it beautiful. It’s also what makes it complicated. Access points are limited, and the old road allowances that do exist often follow the only practical routes the land allows.
That’s exactly the case for us.
The existing road corridor isn’t there by accident. It runs where equipment can realistically travel without extreme grades, major earthmoving, or environmental disturbance. Alternatives might look possible on a satellite image, but on the ground they often mean:
Steep climbs that don’t work for farm equipment
Long detours that add significant cost and land disturbance
Sensitive environmental areas that shouldn’t be carved up for a new road
Water access matters too. River-adjacent farmland has always been valuable for agriculture because of moisture, soil, and growing conditions. Historically, families farmed these areas by using the few workable access points available, often the same ones still visible today.
The challenge comes when modern road standards designed for higher-traffic residential or commercial areas are applied to these low-volume, working rural corridors.
The engineering requirements don’t scale down easily.
But the land sure doesn’t scale up.
So the costs skyrocket, not because the road needs to carry heavy daily traffic, but because the standards assume it might. For a single family home on agricultural land, those standards can push access costs into the range of major infrastructure projects.
At that point, something quiet but powerful happens.
When access costs approach a million dollars, it starts to quietly decide who gets to live on and farm river-valley land, and who doesn’t.
Large corporations and well-capitalized developers can absorb that kind of number as part of a bigger project. Multi-generation family farms and new agricultural families usually can’t. The land may still be zoned agricultural, but the practical pathway to living and working on it narrows. On this particular road, there are properties with 5+ different ownerships.
This isn’t just about one road or one family. It’s about how geography, policy, and cost intersect in places where the land doesn’t fit neatly into a grid, but still feeds people, grows crops, and holds a long history of rural life.
River valleys have always required cooperation between land and people. It feels like policy could be part of that partnership too.
This is Part 3 of “Field Notes on a Rural Road.”
Tomorrow: Where Rural Roads Don’t Fit Urban Rules
A calm look at how modern road standards and historic rural corridors sometimes miss each other.