Agricultural Economics Department

 

Date of this Version

3-2011

Citation

Cornhusker Economics (March 2011)

Comments

Published by University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural Economics. Copyright © [2011] Board of Regents, University of Nebraska. http://agecon.unl.edu/cornhuskereconomics

Abstract

Riding the wave of high commodity prices and farm income levels, Nebraska’s agricultural land values rose 22 percent in the 12-month period ending February 1, 2011. According to preliminary results from the annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Developments Survey, the state’s all-land average value is at a historic high of $1,833 per acre (Figure 1 on next page, and Table 1 on page 3). That level is double the state’s all-land average just six years previously in 2005.

While all classes of farmland posted large percentage gains, the cropland categories showed the strongest gains - a clear reflection of high income conditions for the state’s crop sector over the past few years. For the center pivot cropland class the annual value advances have been particularly strong for some time, with a doubling of average value in just the last five years. For the grazing land classes the advances of the past 12 months follow more moderate historical value advances, as the state’s livestock industry, up until recently, has struggled through difficult economic times. In fact, the recent gains in the North District on nontillable grazing land follows on the heels of a ten percent decline the previous year.

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