ORIGINAL: Lanse couche couche
I recently got a 10 acre piece of ground in southern Illinois for $1650 an acre. It is very poor ground without much timber and lousy soil quality.But the last time I walked it, I jumped a 10 point buck that was bedded down on it, and it is full of turkey too. Nowdays lots of folks seem to be more interested in the game on it, than the actual quality of the land in terms of timber and soil.
When I was in college I worked with my dad at an Ag CO-OP locally. We helpedland ownersall the time who thought they had bad soil quality, but what it lacked in most caseswere a few small nutrients. In most cases the minerology, top soil to bedrock depth, and of course the texture of the soil were fine.
So the introduction of worms, no-till (or "oxy-till"....which is a newer method of putting pure oxygen into a soil with acceptable ammounts of micro organisms and worms), sowing of wheat to balance nitrate levels in the winter, manure (mainly to negate sodium levels), and most importantly crop-rotation. You could turn around and sell (or lease)it for farmland...or use it...and make more money either way.
But you're right, people will buy terrible land as long as it holds wildlife. With the right managment system the land could be vastly improved. In many cases it doesn't cost a fortune to better the land, and a lot of costs could be shed by doing some of the ground work yourself. It's just too bad the decent hunting ground around here is within a stone's throw of some amazing fishing and recreational lakes...which in turn nearly doubles the price of land.