Nebraska ag land values increased 5% from last year, marking the fifth consecutive year of increases according to a recent report from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The final report from UNL’s 2023-2024 Farm Real Estate Market Survey indicates an average all-land value of agricultural land in Nebraska reached $4,015 per acre in the 12-month period ending Feb. 1, 2024.
This marks a 5% increase over the prior year and is the highest non-inflation-adjusted statewide land value in the history of the survey.
The average size of land parcels sold in Nebraska in 2023 was 245 acres, at an average sale price of $4,532 per acre. The highest prices were in the northeast and eastern parts of the state, at $9,341 and $9,723 per acre. The lowest prices per acre were reported in the northwest and north regions, at $1,093 and $1,439 per acre, respectively.
Average Value Per Acre and Percentage Change from Prior Year
- Northwest: $960/acre, up 3%
- North: $1,555/acre, up 7%
- Northeast: $8,540/acre, up 6%
- Southwest: $2,065/acre, up 2%
- Central: $4,435/acre, up 5%
- South: $5,060, up 4%
- East: $9,730/acre, up 4%
- Southeast: $7,230/acre, up 3%
Purchases for farm expansion, current livestock prices, and 1031 tax exchanges were identified in the report as the major economic forces that guided the higher market value of land across the state. According to survey results, the amount of land offerings for sale and non-farmer investor interest in land also contributed to higher values.
Inflation pressure continuing from the prior year led many operations to consider investing in assets like land or agricultural equipment, according to Jim Jansen, an agricultural economist with Nebraska Extension. He co-authored the survey and report with Jeffrey Stokes, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics.
Grassland tillable and non-tillable land across the state experienced the highest one-year changes in value, up 7% and 8%, respectively. The value of gravity-irrigated cropland rose by 3%, center pivot-irrigated cropland gained 4%, and the statewide value of dryland cropland rose between 3% and 5%.
The survey found that cash rental rates for cropland in the state were moderating compared to the prior year, rising between 3% and 5%. Pasture rental rates increased between about 5% and 10% per acre. Cow-calf and stocker monthly rental rates also increased in each of the state’s eight regional districts.
