Nebraska Farmland Markets Plateau

After several years of successively rising land values and cash rents, Nebraska’s farmland markets throttled back during 2008. Preliminary results from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2009 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey show a clear picture of the market mood turning very cautious in response to the U.S. and global economic downturns. As of February 1, 2009, the weighted average value of Nebraska farmland was $1,424 per acre, identical to the year-earlier level (Figure 1 and Table 1 at end of article). Likewise, estimated 2009 cash rents are stable to slightly down from 2008 levels throughout most of the state.

EC71-854 Income Statement (Revised)

This extension circular is an income statement form that covers the following areas: Cash Farm Income (grain/hay sales, livestock sales, livestock product sales, government payments, custom work); Cash Farm Expenses (cash operating, breeding livestock purchases, gross cash farm expenses); Adjustment (inventory, machinery/equipment depreciation, fixed farm improvements depreciation, capital gain or loss on machinery/equipment, gross sales of machinery/equipment, real estate sold); and Non-Farm Income (operators's wage, wife's wage, interest/dividend income, gifts/inheritances, gain or loss on security, non-farm inventory change, net income on other farms owned and non-farm real estate).

Land Use and Transfer Plans in the U.S. Great Plains

In the next decades, aging farmers in the United States will make decisions that affect almost 1 billion acres of land. The future of this land will become more uncertain as farm transfer becomes more difficult, potentially changing the structure of agriculture through farm consolidation, changes in farm ownership and management, or taking land out of production. The Great Plains Population and Environment Project interviewed farmers and their spouses between 1997 and 1999. Farm Family Survey participants were ambiguous about their plans to leave farming, transfer land to others, and even long-term land use, largely due to concerns about the continued economic viability of farming. Participants living far from metropolitan areas expected to sell or rent to other farmers, while those near residential real-estate markets expected to sell to developers. Delays in planning for retirement and succession were common, further threatening the success of intergenerational transitions.