The 2017 Kansas Bluestem Pasture Survey results are available and can be a resource when negotiating pasture lease rates in Kansas. | Download this photo.
New survey can help with land lease negotiations
Landowners in 14 bluestem counties surveyed
June 23, 2017
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Land Use Survey Center, based in the Kansas State University Department of Agricultural Economics, has published the results of the 2017 Kansas Bluestem Pasture Survey. The survey was conducted over 14 counties in Kansas, considered bluestem counties, and has been a benchmark for negotiating pasture lease rates in Kansas.
“Extension agents across the state have used the survey results as a starting point for rates when they are helping draft a lease,” said Leah Tsoodle, director of the center. “This report is also useful to absentee landowners in their lease negotiations. The survey research is specific to the Flint Hills region of the state, as well as to the type of pasture. However, it provides some data about pasture lease rates in Kansas that is not available elsewhere.”
The survey shows lease prices across the bluestem counties for both stocker and cow/calf operations, and the results indicate that 92 percent of the available bluestem pasture was under contract for the 2016-2017 season. Lease rate categories included contract length, type of livestock grazing, and with or without care options. The methodology of the survey was constructed to reflect some complex variables.
“We clarified the terms “with care” and “without care” in this survey, primarily due to the request of the users of prior reports,” Tsoodle said. “With care” can mean a variety of things depending on the lease specifics, and that influences the prices. We highlighted that information by including a table showing the wide range of responses that were received.”
Bluestem pasture is a type of grass native to the Flint Hills region. There are other smaller pockets across the nation, but this is one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
More information is available at http://www.agmanager.info/land-leasing/land-rental-rates/bluestem-pasture-release-2017
