bowhuntinoh is correct. If you plan to actually farm part of it, there are first time farm loans out there through federal agencies (USDA, NCRS and maybe others) that may help you. If you raise certain species of animals or crops, there may be other programs that you can actual get government checks from as well. It is rather disgusting, if you are a conservative and think too much about it.

Our local bank (I live in a rural area) had a better interest rate then Farm Credit when I bought 220 acres back in the early 1990s. It did had a five year ballon. Fortunately, interest rates kept on going down for us. We refinance it several times to take advantage of them. It may pay to shop several banks in the rural area that you are buying the land in. They will compete with each other if they know you are shopping around. The second mortage may be a better way to go from what others are saying if it works out. I would definetly get some type of liability insurance on the land, because you never know what will happen and it's not that expensive compared to the land and possible consequences of not having it could be. You have a bunch of research ahead of you. Good luck.