2018 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report

Jun 26, 2018

By Jim Jansen

Figure 1. Average value of Nebraska farmland as of February 1, 2018 and percent changes from one year earlier.

Final results from the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey show a fourth consecutive year of declining Nebraska agricultural land values. The statewide average value dropped 4% to $2,270 per acre. This is an 18% reduction since land values peaked in 2014.

The report was written by Jim Jansen, Agricultural Economist, Northeast District, Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Centera, and Jeff Stokes, Hanson-Clegg-Allen Endowed Chair, Agricultural Banking and Finance, Department of Agricultural Economics. A preliminary report of their findings was published in the March 15 CropWatch.

Highlights

Average land value changes by district varied from a 7% reduction in the North District to 1% in the Southeast District.
Tillable grazing land saw the greatest decline of 7%. The changes were particularly notable in the East and Central districts where values dropped 11% and 10%, respectively. However, tillable grazing land in the Southeast District was an exception and increased 2%.
Two other categories, dryland cropland with no irrigation potential in the Northeast District and nontillable grazing land in the Southeast, were the only others to see an increase.
Survey participants identified crop prices and property tax levels as significantly contributing to the drop in land values.

Source: unl.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.