From the field
The Latest in Farm and Ranch
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2025 Land Market Outlook: What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know
The rural land market in 2025 navigates a complex interplay of economic forces. While inflation has eased from its 2021–2022 highs, interest rates remain elevated, increasing borrowing costs and influencing investment strategies. At the same time, persistently low inventory across the Mountain West and Great Plains continues to support land values, even as broader economic ...Read more -
Crucial Tips for Ranch Buyers: Key Considerations for Success | Part 4
Purchasing agricultural land involves significant investment and potential risks. Adequate due diligence requires a systematic approach that goes beyond surface evaluation. A comprehensive risk-management strategy combines seasonal property assessment, local knowledge integration, historical research, thorough documentation, and detailed infrastructure evaluation. These practices help prospective ranch owners identify potential challenges before they become costly and establish ...Read more -
Spring Cattle Branding on American Ranches: Tradition, Etiquette & Regional Flavor
Spring branding is one of the most time-honored traditions in the ranching world. As the calving season winds down, families and neighbors gather to mark the new crop of calves with the ranch’s brand. Branding Day isn’t just about getting the job done. It’s a social gathering. A reunion. A chance to lend a hand, ...Read more -
How We Protect Your Privacy When Buying or Selling Land
In an age where data is scraped, sold, and stored by default, land remains one of the last assets you can buy or sell without broadcasting your life. How land transactions are handled can fortify or expose a family’s privacy. At Swan Land Company, we treat privacy as sacred. Because we don’t just sell properties, ...Read more
Swan land in the field
Featured press
$2.5 Million Black Hills Mansion In Northeast Wyoming Filled With Tech
Real Estate in the Black Hills of northeast Wyoming has started taking off, with people realizing that they can get more luxury for less. A $2.5 million five-bedroom, five-bath mansion is the latest example, filled with tech like a robot lawnmower and self-cleaning pool.
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Western Home Journal Round Table | Featuring Mike Swan & Industry Leaders
We’re thrilled to announce a new article from Western Home Journal, featuring Mike Swan in an industry round table discussion. Held at the beautifully restored Kimpton Armory Hotel in Bozeman, Montana, this event gathered industry leaders to delve into pressing topics around ranching, conservation, and the evolving real estate market in the Mountain West.
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RFD TV | The Camas Creek Cattle and Sheep Company sale is one of the priciest in Montana
A historic Montana ranch sale has been featured on RFD TV, as a longtime ranch owner purchased the Meagher County property from the Doggett family, who owned it for over 100 years.
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The Real Deal | Oil magnate Steve Rooney buys Montana cattle ranch for $50M+
30,000-acre property marks one of the state’s priciest sales ever. Steve Rooney is living out his cowboy dreams. “I’ve always been intrigued by the Western lifestyle. I like to ride my horse and work the cattle. I like to help with the hay. I’m working on some irrigation ditches right now. I’m a hands-on kind ...
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WSJ | In One of Montana’s Priciest Deals, a 30,000-Acre Cattle Ranch Sells for Over $50 Million
A longtime ranch owner purchased the Meagher County property from the Doggett family, who owned the land for more than 100 years.
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Cowboys & Indians | Hot Property: Relax, Reset and Ride High at Crazy P Ranch
Need a change of scenery? Opt in for a slice of Western heaven at this Wyoming ranch resort. You’d have to be more than a little mad to miss out on all the opportunities available at Crazy P Ranch. Located near Buffalo, Wyoming, this property features a 12,369-square-foot, three-bedroom, six-bathroom home with a gorgeous exterior ...
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Cowboys & Indians | Hot Property: Blacks Fork River Ranch, Fort Bridger, Wyoming
The Blacks Fork River Ranch presents a rare opportunity to own a beautiful family legacy estate for $6,390,000. Have you ever seen A River Runs Through It? When you buy this property, you can live it. That’s because this 100-plus acres of very secluded land includes nearly a half-mile stretch of The Blacks Fork River that, well, ...
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Cowboys & Indians: the Historic Camas Creek Cattle and Sheep Company Hits the Market for the First Time in More Than 100 Years
Ready, aim, buy this family-owned big-game hunting spread in Montana. Ever dreamed of having big-game hunts come to you? For a mere $58,750,000 the 35,981-acre Camas Creek Cattle and Sheep Company can make that dream a reality. This Montana ranch not only has a rich history—this is the first time the family-owned plot has been ...
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WSJ | A 30,000-Acre Cattle Ranch in Montana Asks $58.75 Million
The property, which has been owned by the same family for more than a century, has a commercial cattle operation and three residences Ivan Doig’s 1978 memoir “This House of Sky” described the author’s childhood on a Montana cattle ranch, where his father worked as a ranch hand. Now, after being owned by the same ...
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MANSION GLOBAL | The Allure of Rustic Living Is Driving Ranch Buyers out West
A whole new wave of wealthy individuals have been in search of wide-open spaces along with a solid investment. The 80,000-acre Climbing Arrow Ranch outside of Bozeman, Montana, went into contract in less than 24 hours when it last listed in 2021. In addition to generating more demand for large properties, the pandemic changed some ...
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LAND MAGAZINE | TIME HONORED TRADITIONS & CUTTING EDGE INNOVATIONS
Time-Honored Traditions, Cutting-Edge Innovations. In a brokerage market facing challenges from a rapidly evolving tech space, Swan Land Company, based in Bozeman, Montana, is developing innovative solutions.
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THE LAND REPORT | SOLD! THE CLIMBING ARROW RANCH
As a 5-year-old, Cody Wetmore remembers looking down off the towering railroad trestle on the Climbing Arrow Ranch and watching a black bear amble in Sixteenmile Creek, a Missouri River tributary. Buck Anderson, who accumulated close to 80,000 acres less than an hour north of Bozeman, had taken the Wetmore family on a tour of ...
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BOZEMAN DAILY CHRONICLE | THE END OF A ERA: CA RANCH SALE
The most expensive ranch deal in Montana history has closed, local real estate companies say. The Climbing Arrow Ranch, spanning approximately 80,000 acres in four southwest Montana counties, was sold to an undisclosed American family, two Bozeman-based real estate companies announced on Tuesday.
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MANSION GLOBAL ARTICLE | SALE OF RANCH BREAKS MONTANA RECORD
A prized and historic ranch in Montana that was listed this spring for upward of $136 million closed in the past week for close to its asking price—a record sum for the state. The 80,000-acre parcel sold to a “private family” that plans to continue ranching.
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SWAN PRESS RELEASE: HISTORIC CLIMBING ARROW RANCH HAS SOLD
One of the most historically significant land and cattle empires in the Rocky Mountain West, Climbing Arrow Ranch (“CA Ranch”) has sold, making it the Most Expensive Ranch in the History of Montana. Consisting of five Ranch Units totaling approximately 79,483 acres spanning four Montana counties, the Ranch includes a commercial cattle and hay operation ...
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | Following Bidding War, Montana Ranch to Sell for Around Its $136.25 Million Asking Price
A Montana ranch featured in the 1992 Robert Redford movie “A River Runs Through It” is in contract, less than a week after the listing was made public, the listing agent confirmed. The property, known as the Climbing Arrow Ranch, sold for around its $136.25 million asking price following a bidding war, according to two ...
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WALL STREET JOURNAL | ONE OF THE LARGEST UNDEVELOPED PROPERTIES IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WEST ASKS $136.25 MILLION
A ranch believed to be one of the largest private undeveloped properties in the Rocky Mountain West is seeking $136.25 million, making it one of the most expensive properties ever listed for sale in the state of Montana. Climbing Arrow Ranch is actually a series of five separate, noncontiguous parcels that total about 80,000 acres. ...
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CA Ranch Press Roundup
Breaking records and making history. Dive into a sample of some of press coverage of both the listing and sale of this historic Montana ranch. This list offers a birds-eye view of how we kept both the listing and sale in the headlines.
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BIG SKY JOURNAL | THE LEGACY OF LEROY STRAND
Located on the eastern flanks of the Highwood Mountains of Central Montana is the sprawling Strand Ranch, home to one of the last big working cattle operations in the state. Set on 30,000 contiguous acres — half of which are protected in a conservation easement through the Montana Land Reliance — the operation offers a ...
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LAND MAGAZINE | Exceptional Service from the Kitchen Table to the Closing Table
“For us, the kitchen table is symbolic of the personal, high-touch way we do business,” said Swan, who ran the office of Bates Sanders Swan Land Company in Bozeman for 12 years, before establishing his own brand. “Whether we’re sitting down with a titan of industry in a New York penthouse office or a ranching ...
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Great Falls Tribune | Sale of LF Ranch
Described as having “all the attributes of a national park,” the LF Ranch, listed at $52.5 million, sold in September. The LF Ranch includes more than 42,000 deeded and leased acres, from west of Augusta to the Lewis and Clark National Forest, which it borders for almost eight miles.
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SHERIDAN PRESS | Wyoming Finalizes Water & Land Acquisition in Northeast Wyoming
The information provided by the WWDC states that in addition to water resource planning opportunities, the acquisition ensures continued public access at Healy Reservoir. Scott Williams, Broker for Swan Land Company who represented the seller in the transaction, said the closing of the transaction completed a process that took approximately two years. During their ...
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BIG SKY JOURNAL | THE LF RANCH: THE CROWN OF THE CONTINENT
When rancher J.B. Long pieced together several parcels of land in Central Montana in the early 1900s, land that included a limestone butte referenced in Captain Meriwether Lewis’ journal on his way through 100 years prior, it’s not hard to imagine the untouched landscape he looked out over admiringly. That’s because his creation, the LF ...
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SWAN PRESS RELEASE: Legendary LF Ranch for Sale
Lewis and Clark hunted and fished here in 1805. Not much has changed since. Swan Land Company of Bozeman, MT announced today that it has listed the LF Ranch for sale. This is only the second time in more than a century it has been available. It is one of the most magnificent Western ranches ...
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RMEF Bugle Magazine | Striking Gold on Birch Creek
On the dry side of the Wasatch Range in the northeast corner of Utah, you can still find big sweeps of sagebrush freckled with pockets of aspen, mountain mahogany and black timber. Clear, cold creeks glide through native grasses and forbs that have never felt the bite of the plow. There are ranches where it ...
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LAND MAGAZINE | Broker Spotlight: Mike Swan on The Values of the Land
When Mike Swan’s father, George, taught him the values of responsibility, hard work and protecting the family name as they worked side-by-side on the family’s commercial cow-calf ranch in Montana’s Ruby Valley, it wasn’t in anticipation of a phone call from the actress Jane Fonda. “My phone rang one day and it was Jane Fonda,” ...
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Denver Business Journal | Mike Swan on water-rights in the West
As mentioned in a recent blog post discussing an article from the New York Times about Investing in Land, Mike Swan, owner and managing broker of Swan Land Company, deliberated several important aspects to pay close attention to when buying and selling ranch property. One of those key aspects that he discussed was water rights. ...
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New York Times | Mike Swan on Investing in Land
Mike Swan, broker owner of Swan Land Company in Bozeman, Montana, as quoted in the New York Times, explains some reasons for investing in land. The August 8th article in the Real Estate section – A Ranch With 1,000 Acres, For Your Inner Buckaroo, written by Julie Satow begins from a New Yorkers perspective: ...
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Wall Street Journal | Jane Fonda to List Her New Mexico Ranch for $19.5 Million
The roughly 2,300-acre ‘Forked Lightning Ranch’ is located about 25 miles outside Santa Fe. Jane Fonda will list her New Mexico ranch for $19.5 million, according to listing agent Mike Swan of Montana-based Swan Land Company. The roughly 2,300-acre ‘Forked Lightning Ranch’ outside Santa Fe includes an adobe home, horse barn and gym.
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SWAN PRESS RELEASE: Largest Privately Held Block of Renowned Bridger Canyon, Lazy J Ranch, Sold
Comprised of approximately 5,665 deeded acres, the Lazy J Ranch is the largest privately held block of land in the renowned Bridger Canyon in Southwest Montana. Current zoning allows one residence per 40 acres creating an ideal candidate for a conservation-minded buyer. This zoning designation also provides the potential for strategic and tasteful development in ...
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St. Louis Magazine | How the West Was Bought
Mike Swan, managing broker and owner of Swan Land Company, was recently recognized in the St. Louis Magazine as the listing agent of the Broken O Ranch and its subsequent sale to billionaire Stan Kroenke. The Broken O Ranch, the largest irrigated farm and cattle ranch in the state of Montana, closed in November of ...
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The Land Report in Times Square | Announcement of Broken O Ranch
Live from New York … It’s Swan Land Company’s listing and sale of the Broken O Ranch. The Land Report announces Mike Swan’s listing and sale of the Broken O Ranch as the 2012 Deal of the Year!
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THE LAND REPORT | 2012 Deal of the Year
Swan Land Company was featured in The Land Report for the 2012 Deal of the Year with its listing and sale of the Broken O Ranch. The Land Report stated that there are three elements that stood out in 2012: “1) Legacy properties continue to command a premium… 2) The market continues to crave income-producing ...
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SWAN PRESS RELEASE: Historic Broken O Ranch Changes Ownership in Landmark Sale
Situated along the eastern edge of the stunning Rocky Mountain Front – the Broken O is one of the West’s most grand and significant ranches. More than 20 miles of the Sun River course through the heart of the substantial Broken O Ranch offering abundant recreational and hunting amenities.
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The Land Report 100 Special Issue | Broken O Ranch Featured on Cover
The Broken O Ranch, listed by Swan Land Company, is featured on the cover of The Land Report 100 Largest USA Landowners Special Issue. Listed as No. 1 on the Land Report Top Ten, the Ranch is comprised of 124,000 deeded and leased acres that was pieced together by Bill Moore of the Kelly Moore ...
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The Wall Street Journal | Broken O Ranch Featured
The historic Broken O Ranch was featured in the December 23, 2011 issue of the the Wall Street Journal. This 124,000 acre Montana ranch for sale, located in Augusta, Montana spans three counties and has about 20 miles of the Sun River running through its core. Visit The Wall Street Journal for more information.
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