How Much Nebraska Ag Land is Owned by Foreign Entities?

The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1973 (AFIDA) established a mandatory reporting system, overseen by the USDA, that requires foreign entities to provide information on all U.S. agricultural and non-agricultural land in which they hold an interest. “Interest” is reported as a fee interest (legal possession of both the surface and mineral rights), partial fee interest (must state percent ownership), life estate, trust beneficiary, purchase contract, or other. “Other” includes leases that are 10-years or longer. The regulations exempt foreign entities with interests solely in mineral rights and leases of less than 10 years in duration from reporting. In this report, the terms “owner” and “ownership” will refer to all types of interest held by the foreign entity, including long-term leases. According to the most recent AFIDA report, foreign investment in agricultural lands has increased over the past decade. As of December 31, 2021, just over 30 million acres (3.1%) of agricultural land in the U.S. was held by foreign entities. Texas has the distinction of having the most acreage held by foreign entities (almost 5.3 million acres or 3.4% of Texas’ acreage) but Maine holds the number one spot for the highest percentage of agricultural land held by foreigners (3.6 million acres equating to 20.1% of Maine’s acreage). Canada holds the largest percentage of Maine’s foreign-held acreage for the purpose of timber production (Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land, 2023)

Do Only Americans Own America? Foreign Investment in Agricultural Lands in the United States

Foreign investment in the United States, while not a new phenomenon, has recently caught the attention of the American public and members of the U.S. House and Senate after an Air Force officer raised concerns when the Fufeng Group, based in Shandong, China, purchased 300 acres of farmland 12 miles from an Air Force base in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to build a corn milling plant (Javers, 2022). National security concerns prompted the U.S. Senate to propose a bill prohibiting the purchase of land in the U.S. by companies or individuals from China, North Korea, Iran, or Russia

Using Breakeven Analysis for Better Decisions

One of the merits of enterprise budgeting is the value of statistics obtained by producers as they engage in decision-making activities. Some of the easiest and most useful computations that can be obtained from enterprise data are breakeven values. As the name suggests, a breakeven gives the price or yield required for the revenue obtained from the enterprise to equal the costs encumbered to produce that revenue

The Cattle Price Cycle: An Exploration in Simulation

The simulation of commodity prices has been undertaken using a myriad of techniques, with some omitting the cyclical component and others ignoring the presence of inter-temporal relationships expressed as autoregressive errors. This study examines the periodicity of cattle prices and the modeling of the cattle cycle for simulation purposes. The AIC criterion is used to determine lengths of various cycles to be included in a harmonic model, with a chained modeling approach providing the best representation of the cattle cycle.cattle Price cycle, harmonic model, simulation,

DYNAMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND PUREBRED CATTLE MARKETS

Vector autoregression was utilized to investigate dynamic relationships existing between prices of purebred bulls and prices of slaughter steers, utility cows, feeder calves, and cow-calf pairs. Results suggest purebred bull prices respond most quickly to an increase in utility cow prices (proxy for slaughter bull prices). Feeder calf prices exhibited the most pronounced positive effect on the price of herd sires, with a lagged response which took over two years to build.Demand and Price Analysis,

A FURTHER LOOK AT THE EFFECT OF FEDERAL TAX LAWS ON OPTIMAL MACHINERY REPLACEMENT

Self-employment taxes, "effective" marginal tax rates, and discounting schemes which allow for alternative purchase and disposal dates of machinery are incorporated into the traditional optimal replacement interval model. Empirical results indicate that these alterations decrease the optimal replacement intervals by up to three years from those obtained with traditional modeling assumptions. Inclusion of self-employment taxes decreases both the penalty attached to early replacement and the net present value (cost) of tractor ownership.Agricultural and Food Policy,

THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF THE U.S. SHEEP INDUSTRY

The cyclical nature of numbers and prices of sheep and lambs was examined from 1924 through 1993. Tests for structural change also were conducted utilizing the minimization of Akaike's information criterion (MAIC). Results indicate that cyclical length in both stock sheep numbers and lamb prices has decreased over time, with a current 10- and 27-year cycle in stock sheep numbers and nine- and 27-year cycle lamb prices. Structural changes occurred in 1951 and 1968 for stock sheep number and in 1952 and 1972 for lamb prices.Livestock Production/Industries,

DEPREDATION CLAIM BEHAVIOR AND TOLERANCE OF WILDLIFE IN WYOMING

Wyoming Game and Fish Department depredation payments were established to increase landowner tolerance toward, and this the supply of, certain types of wildlife. This study examined how socio-economic and demographic characteristics of farmers and ranchers in Wyoming relate to tolerance toward wildlife and depredation claim submission. The severity of depredation and landowner satisfaction with the depredation policy were evaluated. The financial stability and economic intent of farmers and ranchers significantly influenced tolerance toward wildlife. Landowners tended to be less tolerant of depredation ensuing from elk. The complexity of the submission process was a deterrent to damage claim submissions.depredation, probit model, wildlife, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

GRAZING ON PUBLIC LANDS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

A panel of professionals from the ranching, environmental, agency, and university communities was assembled to examine trends relating to the future of grazing on federal lands. Five factors were identified that were thought to influence the use of grazed forages over the next 20 years. These factors were (1) multiple uses of public land, (2) public sentiment towards grazing on public lands, (3) environmental and federal agency regulations, (4) permittee issues, and (5) use of science and technology for managing public land grazing. A list of issues associated with each of the five factors was concurrently developed. The panel of experts was surveyed to explore the future direction each issue would take and the influence each issue may exert on grazing on public lands. All four groups were fairly consistent on the way they viewed the future of grazing on public lands. The most likely scenario includes (1) a significant increase in the demand for multiple uses on public lands, (2) a continued public sentiment against grazing on public lands, (3) and increase in the regulations, and their enforcement, that will negatively impact livestock grazing on the majority of allotments, (4) a continued demand or slight decline in rancher demand for grazing on public lands, and (5) a significant increase in the use of science and technology for managing public land grazing.Land Economics/Use,

A FUTURISTIC LOOK AT THE USE OF GRAZED FORAGES IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

Scenario analysis was used to develop scenarios the grazed forage industry in the western U.S. will most likely face over the next several decades. Five major factors were identified as being most consequential. Scenarios indicated that livestock use of grazing lands will most likely decline while wildlife use will increase.Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries,