View the updated 2016 blog post on Nebraska cash rent paid per acre: 2016 Nebraska Cash Rent Paid Per Acre
To learn about farmland values and other farm real estate information, read the 2015 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report
2014 Nebraska Non-Irrigated Cropland Cash Rent Paid Per Acre
2014 Nebraska Irrigated Cropland Cash Rent Paid Per Acre
2014 Nebraska Pasture Cash Rent Paid Per Acre
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I am interested in your assessment relative to the accuracy of your cash rent per acre data for irrigated cropland survey process. Is your data based from farmers or from farm management firms, banks, government entities, land owners, etc. Also what numbers from each as only a few, versus a wide scope of data sources relative to reported rents can certainly impact overall the overall result. Can stats provided to you from whatever source be validated by copies of lease agreements from all sources or is it strictly of the cuff verbal input. The reason i ask is that both real world operators and landowners (including UN Alumni) whom I have contacted year after year have serious reservations regarding the data published and consequently do not place much confidence therein. Thanks
Robert, first thanks for commenting on our blog/website. These are great questions and valid comments. The first document I shared by crop reporting districts was produced by the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics and the county-based maps were generated by USDA-NASS (National Agricultural Statistic Service). The UNL survey participants are land appraisers, farm managers, or agricultural finance professionals from Nebraska as far as I know. I have not asked for the methodology used by UNL faculty and staff in the Ag Econ Department that conduct this survey.
The USDA-NASS shares this about their methodology saying that approximately 240,000 farms and ranches across the United States are contacted for their total acres operated and acres rented for cash for each land use category (irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and permanent pasture) for the current year. For each land use category with positive acres, respondents are given the option of reporting rent per acre or total dollars paid.
Uses: The Farm Service Agency (FSA) uses cash rent county estimates to determine market-based rates in administering USDA programs, such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Other state and federal government agencies, universities, and research organizations use these data for other forms of economic analysis. The data provide farmers and ranchers with current information about rental rates in their county and are available for their use in making decisions regarding renting and leasing farmland.
Frequency: The Cash Rents Survey is conducted beginning with the first mail out in mid-February.
Methods: Data collection for the Cash Rents Survey is conducted by mail and telephone. The initial mail-out occurs in mid-February followed by a second mailing in mid-March. Non-response phone follow-up is conducted from April to July from NASS’ Data Collection Centers. Some field follow up is conducted to insure adequate response rates for the survey. Over 35 percent of the survey is collected by mail. Data are summarized to provide the mean cash rental rate for each land use category in each district and county. District and county mean rates must reconcile to a previously published state mean cash rental rate for each category. State level mean cash rents are estimated from the Cash Rents Survey. Samples for this survey are drawn with a county-level stratified design. An additional indication is also available from the June Area Survey. This is a probability sample of land segments selected from the complete NASS area sampling frame stratified and sampled by intensity of agriculture.
I think it is reasonable to have reservations about any survey-based results. However, I hope that both entities (UNL Ag Econ Department and USDA-NASS) do they best they can with the resources they have to produce information that can help stakeholders make decisions. Based on the methodologies used by USDA-NASS, the data is not based on copies of lease agreements, but written and oral responses. By the way, Iowa State University results were release recently at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c2-10.html