The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was Nebraska’s largest agricultural land buyer by acreage in the five years from 2018 through 2022, according to a 2023 investigation by the Flatwater Free Press. The investigation attributed 57,500 acres of purchases to the Church, through its landholding entity Farmland Reserve Inc. That ranking is about acres bought—not dollars spent—and it is a historical finding, not a verified account of the Church’s landholdings today.
What the investigation found
Flatwater Free Press examined recorded open-market sales of Nebraska agricultural land from 2018 to 2022. It found that Farmland Reserve Inc., which the reporting identified as owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, bought more acreage than any other buyer during that period. The 57,500 acres attributed to the Church were roughly twice the acreage attributed to the second-largest buyer.
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The story also estimated that the Church owned about 370,000 acres of zoned agricultural land in Nebraska when the investigation was published in 2023. That estimate describes total holdings at that time; it is not the same measure as the 57,500 acres purchased during the five-year sales window.
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“Top purchaser” means acreage, not spending
The ranking is easy to misread if acreage and purchase price are treated as interchangeable. A buyer can acquire more acres while spending less overall, depending on what land it bought and what it paid. Related coverage of the project identified Great Plains Farms as the period’s highest spender, even though the Church led by acreage.
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The investigation therefore answers a specific question: who bought the most agricultural land by acreage in recorded Nebraska open-market sales from 2018 through 2022? It does not establish which buyer spent the most, owns the most Nebraska land of every kind, or currently has the largest holdings.
How the land-sale analysis was assembled
The project drew on data originally gathered by a University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications data journalism class. Flatwater’s analysis covered 12,700 recorded sales, using county records and information from the Nebraska Department of Revenue, according to Nebraska Public Media. Reporters traced buyers through limited-liability-company structures to identify ownership that might not be obvious from a company name alone.
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These records are useful for studying the market, but they are not a perfect census of all land ownership or every possible transaction. Sale amounts could be incorrect, and records sometimes included duplicates; reporters manually corrected errors when possible. The results should be read as an analysis of recorded open-market sales, not a complete list of all Nebraska land purchases or a current parcel-by-parcel ownership register.
What the Church’s Nebraska acreage was used for
Farmland Reserve holds land for agricultural purposes, while the reporting says AgReserves Inc. manages ranch operations on Farmland Reserve land. The company confirmed that it ranched about 365,000 acres in the Sandhills, as reported by Flatwater in 2023. That figure is not directly interchangeable with the story’s estimate of about 370,000 acres of total zoned agricultural land: the descriptions differ in scope and wording.
Farmland Reserve described its purchases as long-term agricultural investments intended to generate value for the Church’s religious, charitable, and humanitarian work. Reporting also discussed ranching, food production, preparedness, and investment as explanations for the holdings. Those are attributed rationales and context, not proof that every acquisition had one identical purpose.
In a 1991 “State of the Church” address, then-president Gordon B. Hinckley explained the long-term rationale for church farms this way, as quoted by Flatwater:
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.“We have felt that good farms, over a long period, represent a safe investment where the assets of the Church may be preserved and enhanced, while at the same time they are available as an agricultural resource to feed people should there come a time of need.”
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Why large outside buyers concern some Nebraska farmers
The Nebraska Farmers Union’s president, John Hansen, argued that purchases by outside owners can make it harder for local individuals to own land. The organization’s position, as reported in the investigation, was opposition to outside investor ownership generally—not a claim directed only at the Church.
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That concern is about access and ownership, and it should not be confused with evidence that this one buyer caused a measured increase in Nebraska land prices. The investigation documented a major buyer in the market; it did not quantify the Church’s individual effect on prices or prove that each purchase displaced a local buyer.
Land values provide broader context, but not a parcel-level explanation. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln reported a statewide average agricultural land value of $3,835 per acre for the year ending February 1, 2023, about 14% above the prior year. That statewide survey average is not an appraisal for any particular property and cannot by itself show what the Church paid for its purchases.
What is known about taxes and future buying
Flatwater reported that the agricultural business pays property taxes, while distinguishing commercial agricultural land from religious properties used directly for nonprofit purposes. That description applies to the agricultural operation discussed in the story; it should not be generalized to every Church-owned property.
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At the time of the 2023 article, Farmland Reserve said it was not planning to expand its ranching operation, while leaving open the possibility of buying row-crop land to lease to local farmers. That was the company’s position then, not confirmation of its current plans. The cited reporting does not establish the company’s present Nebraska acreage, acquisitions after 2022, or whether its plans have changed.
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