Cropland Values Rise While Rangeland Values Fall

Preliminary findings from the 2010 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey show cropland values rising across the entire state over the past 12 months. This follows on the heels of a year of little to no value change for most of the state. For the year ending February 1, 2010, dryland cropland with no irrigation potential rose an average of 6.4 percent, while state-wide averages for gravity irrigated cropland and center pivot irrigated cropland climbed 5.2 and 6.1 percent, respectively (Table 1 on next page). Statewide, dryland cropland with potential to be developed for irrigation rose 7.3 percent in value, but varied considerably across the state depending on development restrictions and opportunities. At the same time that cropland classes experienced value gains, the non-tillable grazing land class fell 5.6 percent for the year, with even greater percentage declines recorded in the major range areas of the state. The combination of upward value movement for cropland and downward pressure for rangeland led to an overall statewide increase for all land of 4.4 percent (Figure 1)