News
Nebraska rental rates: Crop ground lower, pasture higher
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln survey shows 2014 cash rental rates for cropland in the state have declined with lower commodity prices.
“On the crop side, rental rates on average are backing down slightly—depending upon where you’re at, anywhere from around five to 15 percent,” says Jim Jansen, a research analyst in UNL’s Department of Ag Economics. “Especially on the irrigated crop ground, where rates historically hit some extreme highs last year.”
At the same time, Jansen says, pasture and cow-calf pair rental rates saw significant increases, mainly due to higher beef cattle prices.
“We’re seeing increases around 20 percent—roughly 15 to 20 percent on the pasture side, on a per monthly basis,” he says, “and also for cow-calf pair rates—the rates that we reported this year on the cow-calf pair rates have increased over the prior year anywhere from 15 to 25 percent, which is setting new records in our survey.”
The rental rates information is included in UNL’s recently-released farm real estate market survey results.
we are in nw Iowa and renting 110 acres for 40 cow calf pair. Our farmer wants to switch to 45 heifers and is asking for a $900 decrease in rent this year. We don’t feel we should come down in rent, we still rotationally graze over 18 pastures paddocks, moving the water every two days and we maintain the fencing. Is there typically a reduced rate from pairs to bred heifers?