Dad always told me to buy all the land I could, if I could pay the taxes and interest.  His claim was made on the basis of Grandfather losing an 80 in 1930 that he bought in 1929.  He said if he could have made the taxes and interest, the bankers would have carried the payments due to a later date.  Grandfather bought that good black land in Northern Illinois for $500 in 1929, if he could have held on to it it would be worth $12,000 to $20,000 today.  I bought several pieces before land went high enough that I could no lo0nger pay interest and taxes, but any I could have purchased would still have made me money today, and I doubt if I would have lost it, just worried a lot.  Machinery is important, sometimes it works well if it can be cash flowed, but as other said, seldom as good a value as land.  Even if land goes to zero per acre, if you don't lose it, it still will have value someday.  Land is a young mans game, us older folks don't have the time left to ride out a lower price dip.