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Survey shows 2011 Nebraska agland values jumped 31 percent
A new University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) report confirms the big increase in the state’s farmland values in 2011.
But while many projections have put the overall increase in the 25 percent range, the latest farm real estate survey from the UNL shows it’s even more than that.
“When the dust settles here, it looks like our preliminary numbers show a little over 30 percent—in fact, a 31 percent increase for the state all-land average,” says UNL ag economist Bruce Johnson.
Reflecting the great resource diversity across the state, Johnson says, the per-acre values of land vary significantly. For example, the average value of center pivot irrigated land (pivot not included in the value) ranges from about $2,600 per acre in the Northwest District to nearly $8,000 per acre in the East District, with the highest quality irrigated land exceeding $10,000 per acre.
Dryland cropland values show an even greater spread of more than seven-fold from west to east.
Grazing land classes showed more modest value gains for the year, but overall for the state still showed a 19 percent increase for non-tillable grazing land.
The tillable grazing land class, which is land considered to be potentially converted to cropland, recorded significantly higher values and higher percentage value gains in those areas of the state where no moratoriums preclude further irrigation expansion.
The survey shows the state’s all-land average value as of February 1st to be at $2,410 per acre.
With grain prices down considerably from their 2011 highs, Johnson expects the market to cool off some in 2012.
“We probably will have to have some readjustment downward in the near future, to get back to reality,” he says.
But Johnson doesn’t forsee a bursting of the farmland bubble—more likely, a slow leak.
AUDIO: Bruce Johnson (7:10 MP3)
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