Jim Jansen is an agricultural economist with Nebraska Extension, and co-author of the annual Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report. 

Nebraska contains over 45 million acres of agricultural land used as cropland, grazing land, hayland and more. About 56% of that ag land in the state is owned by farmers and rancher, while absentee landowners own the remaining 46%, which equates to nearly 20 million acres that are leased out. A new report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that, nationally, the majority of these absentee landowners who are non-operators — who typically cash rent their land to operators — live within about 50 miles of their land. Jansen discusses more about the characteristics of landownership in Nebraska and across the country, and why understanding them is important to both owners and operators.