BLAIR, NEBRASKA (2024 December 16, Monday)
Don Harrold, Writer / Editor
blairtoday@mail.com – Facebook
The farming landscape in Nebraska is heavily dependent on rental arrangements, with a significant portion of agricultural land being leased rather than owned. “In the state of Nebraska approximately half of the agricultural land across the state of Nebraska is rented,” says Jim Jansen, agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jansen, along with fellow UNL agricultural economist Anastasia Meyer, will lead the 2025 Landlord/Tenant Cash Rent Workshop on January 9 at the Nebraska Extension Office in Washington County.
The workshop will explore various rental options. “This might include a crop share lease arrangement, a cash lease arrangement, even a custom lease arrangement,” Jansen explains.
For those new to agricultural land management, understanding the basic relationships is crucial. “A landlord is someone that owns an agricultural property… that is wishing to rent that parcel of land to someone else for a set period of time,” says Jansen. In Nebraska’s agricultural calendar, “cropland with a handshake agreement is rented for March 1st, 2025 to February 28th, 2026. Although written leases may choose different starting and end dates”
With current land prices at significant levels, many question whether to rent or buy. According to Jansen, some choose to rent out their land because “they look to land as an agricultural investment… Maybe it’s an asset that they have inherited from someone, an extended family member or their parents, so there are sentimental attachments to the property.”
The workshop welcomes a diverse audience. “It’s a great resource for people who might be potentially inheriting land in the future,” Jansen says. “It’s good for folks that work in industry… such as an agricultural banker, a crop insurance agent that has clients, bankers… someone that would like to know some of the more recent trends that are occurring.”
The free workshop will cover “current trends in land values and cash rent rates” and provide “insight on farmland succession and trends in farmland leases,” Jansen notes.
The event will be held from 1-4 PM at 597 Grant St., Suite 200 in Blair. Registration is required by January 8. Refreshments will be provided by Farmers National Company. To register, call the Nebraska Extension in Washington County at 402-426-9455.
From a phone interview with Jim Jansen, with additional comments via email from Anastasia Meyer.
