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Down in the Weeds: Extension ag economist discusses some reasons for declines in Nebraska land values.

March 29, 2019

1 Min Read
corn field during winter months
GRADUAL DECLINE: While Nebraska's ag land values have, on average, declined 20% in the past five years, Nebraska Extension ag economist Jim Jansen notes the decline has been gradual.

Note: You can listen to my conversation with Jim Jansen below.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Department of Agricultural Economics recently released the preliminary results for its 2019 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey.

In the latest Down in the Weeds, Nebraska Extension agricultural economist Jim Jansen discusses these preliminary results, which show a 3% decline in ag land real estate values across Nebraska compared with the previous year.

However, Jansen notes this is part of a continued gradual decline.

"Since our peak of 2014 or 2015, in that time frame, the average value of Nebraska farm real estate has dropped about 20% compared year over year,” Jansen says. “We term it as a gradual decline. The change over time has only been about 3% this past year, and something similar in the prior year as well. Compounding over time, we have seen a decline of about 20%. Many people will quickly note that there may be areas in Nebraska where the rate of decline is even more or less."

Of course, there are differences in the rate of decline in different parts of Nebraska — some districts in eastern Nebraska saw lower rates of decline, and even slight increases.

"In the eastern part of the state, we're seeing some industries develop over time with respect to confined animal feeding of various kinds, as well as a very robust feedlot industry in eastern Nebraska," Jansen says. "This maybe has helped some of the real estate markets in terms of the percent change as well as the rate of decline."

 

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