Braden Janowski has never planted seeds or brought in a harvest. He doesn’t even own overalls.

Yet when 430 acres of Michigan cornfields were auctioned last summer, it was Janowski, a brash, 33-year-old software executive, who made the winning bid. It was so high-$4 million, 25 percent above the next-highest-that some farmers stood, shook their heads and walked out. And Janowski figures he got the land cheap.