KAWASAKI LOOKS TO ADD 550 JOBS IN LINCOLN IN TIGHT JOBS MARKET

LINCOLN- Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing is planning a $200 million expansion of the company's operations in Lincoln that will add about 550 jobs.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries, said it plans to invest in its consumer products division over the next 18 months to increase capacity to make Jet Skis, ATVs and other small vehicles. The $200 million will be used to add capacity to assembly, paint and welding lines, the company said, as well as increase automation.

Despite the increase in automation, which Kawasaki said is necessary due to the Lincoln area's low unemployment rate, the company said it still plans to add employees in both its consumer products division and its rail car operations.

Jason Hellbusch, director of administration for Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing, said there are a number of reasons driving the expansion, which is one of the largest in the company's history and one of the largest in the city overall in at least the past decade.

Kawasaki has been in Lincoln since 1974, when it opened its only North American manufacturing plant. However, most of its investment in the plant over the past couple of decades has been to support its growing rail car division as well as its new aerospace division, which opened in Lincoln in 2017.

Kawasaki is Lincoln's largest manufacturing operation, with more than 2.4 million square feet of space at Northwest 27th Street and U.S. Highway 34. It also is one of the city's largest private employers, with more than 2,400 employees.

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DOUGLAS COUNTY SHERIFF CANDIDATE ENDORSED BY RICKETT'S, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS

OMAHA- Omaha Police Sgt. Aaron Hanson, who announced his intention to run for Douglas County sheriff last week, has picked up three prominent endorsements — including one from his boss.

Hanson, who is a Republican, received the backing of Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine and Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.

Ricketts and Kleine are Republicans, and Schmaderer is registered as a nonpartisan. Schmaderer said he was endorsing Hanson as a private citizen. In a commercial posted to YouTube highlighting the endorsements, Schmaderer is wearing a suit jacket, not his police uniform. Hanson, who is 47, has worked for the Omaha Police Department for about 25 years and graduated from the academy seven months after Schmaderer did.

“I’ve watched him lead for 25 years,” Schmaderer said in a statement. “Now, it’s his time to lead as the Douglas County sheriff, and I fully support his candidacy.”

In a statement from Hanson’s campaign announcing the endorsements, Ricketts and Kleine lauded Hanson’s work history.

“He makes the right decisions, and he makes them for the right reasons,” Kleine said in the statement. “I consider him a good friend, and somebody that I think is a model police officer.”

Hanson currently serves as the supervisor of the Omaha Police Department’s fugitive unit and is on the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force.

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NEBRASKA AGREED TO PAY FOR STATE TROOPERS' TEXAS DEPLOYMENT; OMAHA WORLD HERALD CALLS IT POLITCAL SHOWBOATING

LINCOLN- The agreement under which Nebraska sent its state troopers to the Texas-Mexico border includes no provision for Texas to pay the estimated cost of $334,000, according to documents obtained by The World-Herald. A statement from Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska State Patrol said that it’s still possible that the state could be reimbursed. But it’s unclear how that would happen.

Ricketts is among several GOP governors who have sent law enforcement in response to requests from the governors of Arizona and Texas, who are also Republicans. The border-state governors sent a letter June 10 requesting other governors send all available law enforcement “in defense of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” citing a “crisis” at the border.

An agreement related to the deployment states that Nebraska will not seek reimbursement from Texas. A patrol spokesperson previously has said the funding was not finalized and said the cost of previous deployments like this one, made through the interstate Emergency Management Assistance Compact, had been reimbursed. The compact is a mutual aid agreement that allows states to share resources in emergencies.

The bottom line is that Nebraska taxpayers are on the hook for probably half a million dollars, and the administration no doubt recognized that would draw significant criticism. The June 12 agreement estimates costs at $334,000 — before Gov. Pete Ricketts extended the deployment for 15 of the 25 officers sent to Texas.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, after similar rhetorical jive from her administration, also fessed up that her state would pay for sending about 25 troopers to Texas.

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NEBRASKA STATE SEN. TOM BREWER, A WAR VETERAN, SEES TRAGEDY AHEAD IN AFGHANISTAN

LINCOLN- Tom Brewer sees a tragedy unfolding. “People will understand how brutal the Taliban is,” Brewer says as he contemplates what lies ahead in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. military forces. Brewer has been there. He knows.

“There will be executions on polo fields in Kabul as a Saturday event if the capital falls, a systematic mass killing of the educated who accept the western way, anyone who has helped,” he said. “I feel sick about it.”

Brewer left his own blood in Afghanistan.

In 2002, he was there as a volunteer on a military mission to help train Afghan troops in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attack on targets in the United States that propelled the nation into major military involvement in the Middle East.

In 2003, Brewer was shot six times during a spontaneous firefight with the Taliban at a desolate site near Ghar Mountain in Kabul Province; in 2011, he was wounded again during his sixth tour in Afghanistan when shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade ripped through his body.

The retired Army colonel, a member of the Nebraska Legislature, is watching from afar now as President Joe Biden withdraws U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

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NEBRASKA CORN BOARD HELPS PAY FOR CALIFORNIA ETHANOL PUMPS

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Corn Board for years has given grants to Nebraska fuel retailers to incentivize them to add higher blends of ethanol, such as E-15 or E-85.

But now the organization is going out of state to promote the fuel.

The Corn Board announced earlier this month that it has partnered with a company called Pearson Fuels to put two E-85 pumps at stations in California, the first time it has provided a grant to help pay for pumps out of state.

The two pumps are at stations in Chatsworth and Agoura Hills, two Los Angeles suburbs.

While promoting corn-based fuel from conservative Nebraska to drivers in liberal California may seem like an odd marriage, it makes a lot of sense.

“California is the largest E-85 market in the country, and the demand opportunity is enormous,” said John Greer, a farmer from Edgar who is District 2 director for the Corn Board. "Plus, most of Nebraska’s ethanol is sold to California." 

It's likely the California deal will be more than just a one-time experiment for the Corn Board.

"We’re interested in doing further grant work in major population areas," said Jeff Wilkerson, the Corn Board's director of market development. "California is of specific interest for that reason, along with California being a major destination for Nebraska ethanol."

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NU REGENT BOB PHARES SAYS HE WON'T SEEK REELECTION

LINCOLN- Longtime NU Regent Bob Phares has said he won't seek a fourth term in 2022. 

Phares, who is from North Platte and represents western Nebraska, said serving on the board of the University of Nebraska was one of the greatest honors of his life.

Currently vice chairman of the board, Phares said he has worked to keep tuition affordable, draw bright students to the university and create synergy with business in a way that grows the state's economy.

He has been on the board for 15 years. During that time, annual tuition increases have dropped from 8% to 3.5%, giving NU the lowest in-state tuition of Big Ten schools.

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TICKS UP SLIGHTLY IN OMAHA, LINCOLN, GRAND ISLAND

NEBRASKA- Nebraska’s unemployment rate remained almost unchanged last month while the rates in some of its biggest cities increased slightly, according to state figures released Friday.

The Nebraska Department of Labor reported a statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.5% in June, compared with 2.6% in May.

The rate is substantially lower than the 6.6% unemployment rate in June 2020, in the heat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the non-seasonally adjusted rates in the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island areas ticked upward.

The Omaha area’s unemployment rate increased to 3.2% in June, from 2.7% the prior month. The Lincoln area’s rate increased to 2.5%, from 2.2% the previous month. And the Grand Island area’s rate rose to 2.8% in June, up from 2.4% in May.

Total nonfarm employment statewide was 1,018,392 in June, an increase from 1,013,414 in May, according to the department.

The total in the Omaha area was 498,572 in June, compared with 493,786 in May. For Lincoln, it was 189,262 in June and 189,704 in May. And in Grand Island, it was 41,479 in June and 41,423 in May. In Iowa, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4% in June as more residents began looking for work, according to statistics released Friday.

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NEBRASKA OVERDOSE DEATHS JUMPED NEARLY 43% LAST YEAR

NEBRASKA- More than 200 Nebraskans died of drug overdoses in 2020, an increase of nearly 43% from the previous year, according to a new federal report.

In the report, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that Nebraska tallied 209 drug overdose deaths in 2020, compared to 146 in 2019. The country as a whole saw a new peak of 93,000 such deaths last year, an increase of 29% from more than 72,000 overdose deaths in 2019. The data are considered provisional, according to the agency.

While the report does not outline the reasons behind the increase, Dr. Alëna Balasanova, an addiction psychiatrist with Nebraska Medicine, said she suspects factors tied to the pandemic — loss of access to addiction treatment services and the social and economic stresses of the pandemic itself — plus an influx of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

In Nebraska, Balasanova said, methamphetamines, not opioids, as in some other states, have been the predominant contributor.

Currently, providers are seeking to get the word out that people can get help, Balasanova said. Nebraska Medicine just added one addiction specialist and will bring another on board in August.

“The need is out there,” she said. “A lot of folks don’t realize help is available.”

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NORTH OMAHA NEWS WEBSITE STILL WAITING, AND WONDERING, IF IT WILL GET RICKETTS' OK

LINCOLN-  A North Omaha-based, nonprofit news website is still waiting, and wondering, if it will be granted access to Gov. Pete Ricketts’ press conferences — more than a month after submitting applications for press credentials. The credentialing process was created in April after a NOISE Omaha reporter was denied access to a Ricketts press conference at the State Capitol because, a spokesman for the governor later stated, NOISE was “an advocacy organization funded by liberal donors” trying to appear as a news organization.

That denial raised concerns from other Nebraska news outlets and journalism professors, who pointed to court rulings that determined media cannot be excluded from access to government officials and events based on their perceived political viewpoint. Among those concerned was a national organization, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which funds lawsuits over First Amendment issues.

“I don’t think it’s taken this long for other news organizations to get credentials. We never got any answers back,” said NOISE Omaha’s interim executive director, Myles A. Davis, who called the delay “a push off, run around.”

On June 15, NOISE submitted applications for credentials for its 11 staff members. A couple of days later, Taylor Gage, the governor’s director of strategic communications, emailed a response, thanking them for applying.

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MAYOR STOTHERT PROPOSES 2% REDUCTION IN OMAHA'S PROPERTY TAX LEVY

OMAHA- Mayor Jean Stothert is proposing a tax cut in the upcoming city budget, marking the third time she has pushed to reduce the city’s property tax levy during her tenure leading City Hall.

Stothert’s recommended 2% tax reduction for the City of Omaha levy is the result of a few things, she and her budget planning team said this week: a higher-than-normal rise in property valuations by the Douglas County assessor, solid investment returns, and an expected $112 million payout from the most recent federal coronavirus relief package, half of which the city already has in the bank.

Stothert, who won a third term as mayor in May, proposed the tax cut during her 2022 budget proposal to the public and the Omaha City Council on Tuesday.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3 in the Legislative Chambers of the City-County Building at 1819 Farnam St.

Other notable items from Stothert’s proposed budget and capital improvement program include early plans for a new police and fire headquarters, more Public Works employees to oversee additional street repairs and money to kick-start Omaha’s tourism industry as the area continues to emerge from the ongoing pandemic.

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OMAHA SEEKING INPUT ON HOW TO SPEND $112 MILLION IN COVID RELIEF FUNDS

OMAHA- Omaha is receiving about $112 million from the federal government to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funds are coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion package intended to combat economic effects of the pandemic, including by sending financial aid directly to local governments.

The city received half of its allotment in May and will receive the other half next spring.

The city is asking for feedback from the public about how it should use the dollars, Stothert said. A feedback form and more information can be found on the city’s website at: cityofomaha.org/american-rescue-plan-act.

“We want to get that out to the community as soon as we possibly can,” Stothert said. The deadline to submit feedback is Aug. 15.

Council President Pete Festersen said he looked forward to reviewing Stothert’s proposed 2022 budget in more detail and receiving public input.

Festersen said he’s most interested in working in how the federal relief dollars can be used.

“That presents an opportunity to do something truly innovative and impactful in the community when it comes to addressing issues such as affordable housing, mental health, poverty and small business assistance,” Festersen said.

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NATIONAL GUARD SET TO CANCEL TRAINING UNTIL OCTOBER BECAUSE OF FUNDING IMPASSE

WASHINGTON- National Guard members in Nebraska, Iowa and across the country may lose training and pay for the next two months because Congress has failed to repay the Guard for protecting Washington, D.C., in the months following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The National Guard Bureau spent $521 million to keep about 25,000 troops in Washington, manning concrete fencing and checkpoints around the building and providing security during President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Most left within a few weeks, but some soldiers stayed until the end of May.

The bureau expected Congress would pony up funds to repay them. But the bill to cover the costs has gotten tied up with Washington’s partisan gamesmanship.

“Time is running out,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Neely, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, at a media briefing Friday. “The loss of these funds will have a major impact on our readiness, both for our federal missions and for state emergencies.”

The Nebraska National Guard is facing a shortfall of $3.4 million. A state marksmanship contest scheduled for August already has been scrubbed, said Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, the state’s adjutant general, and a workshop for commanders to plan next year’s training has been postponed.

“We simply couldn’t afford to do it,” he said.

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CREIGHTON A.D. BRUCE RASMUSSEN PLANS TO RETIRE NEXT MONTH

OMAHA- Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen plans to retire next month, with his last day set for Aug. 16.

Rasmussen, 70, has spent the last 41 years in various roles at Creighton. He's been the athletic director since 1994.

During his time as A.D., Creighton has collectively won 43 regular-season conference titles and 43 conference tournament titles. He oversaw CU's transition from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Big East Conference. And he also spent five years serving on the NCAA Division I men's basketball selection committee.

Since joining the Big East, Creighton has won league titles in baseball, men’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s basketball and volleyball. 

Creighton has undergone a wave of new athletic facility construction under Rasmussen's leadership. Morrison Stadium (soccer) and the CHI Health Center (men's basketball) opened in 2003-04. Sokol Arena (women's basketball and volleyball) opened in 2009, and TD Ameritrade Park became home to Creighton baseball in 2011. In 2014, the Championship Center was built as a practice facility for men's basketball and a headquarters for all sports.

Rasmussen steered Creighton through the pandemic. He established the Bluejays Persevere initiative, in which 50% of men's basketball season ticket holders donated all or a portion of the costs of their tickets to the athletic department.

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NEBRASKA SEEKING NEW OWNER FOR FORMER JUVENILE OFFENDER CAMPUS IN GENEVA

LINCOLN- State officials took the first formal steps Monday toward disposing of the 46-acre campus that formerly housed a juvenile offender treatment center for girls in Geneva.

The Vacant Buildings and Excess Lands Committee voted to declare the grounds and buildings “vacant and excess” and to search for an entity interested in taking over the property, which had been the longtime home of a Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center.

First dibs will go to the City of Geneva, according to Jason Jackson, director of the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services. Second choice would be another public entity.

Geneva Mayor Eric Kamler said he is excited about the economic development opportunities that the property could provide. He said some of the buildings could be used as a business incubator, while the indoor pool and ballfields could expand recreational offerings for the town.

He also wants to keep the state call center employees who are currently working out of the former administration building. The Department of Health and Human Services has about 32 workers who help process applications for Medicaid and other public assistance programs.

Kamler said the Geneva City Council was slated to start discussions about the property Monday evening.

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GROWTH CONTINUES IN RURAL PARTS OF 10 STATES INCLUDING NEBRASKA, BUT OPTIMISM SLIPS

NEBRASKA- Rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states are seeing continued economic growth, according to a monthly survey of bankers, even as nonfarm jobs in most of those states remained below pre-pandemic levels.

The overall Rural Mainstreet economic index dropped from June’s 70.0 to a still-strong 65.6 in July. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy, while a score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy.

The survey's index on new hiring decreased to 67.6 in July from 71.7 in June.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed nonfarm jobs across the region came in at 55,000 fewer — or 1.3% less — than before the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey from Omaha. But three states — Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota — reported nonfarm employment levels above pre-pandemic levels.

“Even in small communities like Eldora, the local businesses are having trouble finding adequate staffing," said James Brown, CEO of Hardin County Savings Bank in Eldora, Iowa.

Goss said the region continues to benefit from growing exports, solid grain prices and continued low interest rates.

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NEBRASKA TOOK IN ALMOST $6 BILLION IN TAX REVENUE LAST FISCAL YEAR, A BIG INCREASE

LINCOLN — Nebraska ended its fiscal year with a historic spike in revenue that will mean record relief for property taxpayers next year.

The State Department of Revenue reported Thursday that Nebraska collected $5.959 billion in taxes in the year that ended June 30. That’s up more than $1 billion compared with the previous fiscal year — a 20.6% boost.

As a result, the state’s new property tax relief program will more than quadruple in size, growing from $125 million in the just-ended fiscal year to $548 million in the current year. The program provides income tax credits to Nebraska property owners to offset a portion of their school property tax bills.

Through the program, property taxpayers got back about 6% of their school tax bill when they filed their 2020 income taxes. The year-end state revenue figure means that those same property owners will get credits equal to about a quarter of school property taxes when they file their 2021 income taxes.

Gov. Pete Ricketts celebrated the news, which means that the state would provide almost $1 billion worth of property tax relief in the current fiscal year. In addition to the new program, the state will provide $300 million through a longstanding separate property tax credit program and $104 million through a homestead exemption program benefiting low-income elderly and disabled homeowners.

“Nebraskans weathered the pandemic with grit and determination,” he said in a statement. “Our economy has powered through the uncertainty of the last year, and that is resulting in significant growth in state revenues. Thanks to (Legislative Bill) 1107, which I signed into law last year, higher state revenues have created record property tax relief for our farmers, ranchers, homeowners and small businesses.”

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OMAHA NONPROFITS TEAM UP FOR $13.6 MILLION HOUSING EFFORT

OMAHA-  Seven Omaha nonprofits will receive $13.6 million in state and private funding to boost home construction and renovation under a new state law aimed at creating more owner-occupied, middle-income workforce housing in older urban areas.

Half of the money comes from Nebraska’s Middle Income Workforce Housing Investment Fund, which the Nebraska Legislature created last year as part of Legislative Bill 866, introduced by State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha. The Nebraska Department of Economic Development administers the fund. The other half comprises matching dollars from the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority and local businesses and philanthropic foundations.

The Omaha nonprofits, which often compete for grants, worked together to apply for the state money and raise the matching funds required by the law. The organizations will use the money to help finance new construction or renovation of houses in designated parts of North and South Omaha.

They hope the money will lead to building or renovating about 70 homes, said Jamie Berglund, executive director of Spark, one of the organizations that will receive the funding and that helped put the collaboration together. The other organizations are Canopy South, Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, Holy Name Housing Corp., Omaha Economic Development Corp., Omaha 100 and Seventy-Five North Revitalization Corp.

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NU LEADERS SAY THEY HAVE 'SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS' ABOUT RESOLUTION OPPOSING CIRITCAL RACE THEORY

LINCOLN- Top administrators at the University of Nebraska said Wednesday they have "significant concerns" about a proposed resolution from Regent Jim Pillen seeking to curb the teaching of critical race theory on campus.

In an email to students, faculty and staff, President Ted Carter and chancellors from each campus said university leaders would work to "vigorously protect and defend academic freedom" at NU.

Pillen, a regent from Columbus who is running for governor, said he'll introduce a resolution at the board's Aug. 13 meeting calling on regents to "oppose any imposition of critical race theory in curriculum" at NU.

But in what they called a "unified statement in defense of freedom of expression," Carter, UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green, UNO Chancellor Joanne Li, UNMC Chancellor Jeff Gold and UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen joined with faculty and student-athletes opposing Pillen's plan.

"As we have shared with Regent Pillen, we have significant concerns about the resolution and how it would be interpreted by the faculty, staff and students we hope to recruit and retain," the email states.

"The free and open pursuit of ideas is a cherished principle in higher education, and its preservation is vital for any great university," administrators said. "We support and defend the liberties our teachers and learners have to freely discuss ideas in and outside of the classroom."

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HUNDREDS OF OMAHA POLICE, FIREFIGHTERS SKIP COVID VACCINATION

OMAHA- After access to the vaccine came — in late December for firefighters and early February for most police officers — a majority of the first responders got the shot. Yet records provided by the city after a World-Herald records request indicate that 27% of Omaha firefighters and 41% of Omaha police officers remain unvaccinated. 

Dr. Mark Rupp, the chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's infectious diseases division, commended those workers who have been vaccinated but expressed disappointment that so many have yet to get the shots. He likened the coronavirus vaccine to needed safety gear — the heavy coat that firefighters wear while battling flames or the bulletproof vest that officers wear to felony drug busts.

"Many first responders take all kinds of actions to maintain their safety and their health," Rupp said. "Why wouldn't you want to have the equivalent of that to protect from an unseen virus?" Being vaccinated, he said, is especially important for health care providers and first responders who come into contact with hundreds of people every day.  

The City of Omaha has not required its workers to get the vaccine, and no plans are in place to do so. But officials have kept track of first responders who have been vaccinated. And a new city policy effective this month gives those who are vaccinated an additional benefit, a change that some first responders say is essentially forcing them to get the shot. 

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NEBRASKA AG LAND VALUES RISE 6% THIS YEAR

LINCOLN- Ag land values in Nebraska rose 6% this year, according to the final report from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s 2021 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey.

The average value of ag land in the state is $2,895 per acre, but values vary greatly across the state, from $6,840 an acre in the eastern part of the state, an area that includes Lancaster County, to as little as $715 an acre in the Panhandle. Rates of increase were highest in the north, northeast, central and southeast districts of the state, with average increases of 6% to 8% over the prior year. Western regions reported smaller increases, between 3% and 5%. Values for cropland, both irrigated and unirrigated, also increased more than those for haying and grazing land.

The report found that current crop prices, interest rates and purchases for farm expansion contributed to higher land values, as did non-farm investor land purchases and federal farm program payments

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