On the Block: Quality Pastureland in Custer County, Nebraska

Located northwest of Eddyville, this well-maintained quality pastureland sits in the heart of Middle America and has been carefully managed by the Peterman family for over half a century. Four windmill wells, two cisterns, a dam, and several dugouts nurture livestock and abundant wildlife. Other improvements include corrals and half a mile of brand new five-wire fence. The 893.6 acres will be auctioned on September 10 in Eddyville by Marshall Land Broker & Auctioneers of Kearney.

Read more here.

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Sold! Nebraska’s Circle Cross Ranch

Update 12/2011

Forty-three minutes into the auction, the entire Circle Cross Ranch in Valentine, Nebraska sold for $11.75 million. The winning bidders, cattlemen Danny Weinreis of Minatare, Neb., and Gene Weinreis of Golva, N.D., along with their brothers, plan to continue operating Circle Cross as a cattle ranch. According to Danny Weinreis, “It’s really great cattle country here. We’re cow-calf operators. That’s what we’re looking for: a good feed base and a place to run mother cows.”

Auctioned by Hall and Hall, the auction attracted some of Cherry County’s largest landowners and about 30 bidders from across the country.

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Nestled in the Sandhills region of Northwestern Nebraska lies the spectacular 40,520± acre Circle Cross Ranch. Tucked in against the Niobrara National Scenic River, the Circle Cross  is located about 20 minutes southwest of the Nebraska town of Valentine. The Circle Cross includes 12,020± deeded acres, a 16,500± acre permit in the McKelvie National Forest, 3,400± acres of private and state lease,  and some 8,600± acres of additional private leases.

The ranch is irrigated by several wells on the property as well as pumps drawing water from the Niobrara. Approximately 1,100 acres of the ranch are irrigated through 7 pivot irrigation systems. The water is of excellent quality and abundant. Several stock tanks and ponds also dot the landscape around the ranch.

Cattle thrive on the Circle Cross’s vast grasslands and prairies. In addition, hay, corn, and other crops can be easily grown thanks to the well-developed irrigation system on the property.

Driving through the ranch you’ll find open plains, rugged terrain, and scenic trails following the river and through its many wooded areas. The land use permits on the adjacent Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest add additional grazing and recreational opportunities.

The Circle Cross is an ideal setting for operating a cattle operation, for crop production, or for a country gentlemen’s ranch and getaway.

Date: 10:00 a.m. Central Time, December 2, 2011

Location: Valentine, Nebraska

For more information or to receive a detailed brochure:
Hall and Hall Auctions
(800) 829-8747
www.HallandHall.com 

88 – Powell Heirs – 100,000 acres

Jimmy Powell, head of Powell Ranches, runs his family’s sheep and cattle operation on an estimated 100,000 acres in several Texas counties as well as Cherry County, Nebraska. In 2005, the Rice University graduate was recognized for his longtime leadership in Texas agriculture.

62 – Wells Family – 140,000 acres

Along with a reported 140,000 acres of ranchland in Nebraska, the Wells family also has other real estate ventures, including the historic Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. The family’s Las Olas Company has been investing in Florida real estate since the 1930s.

78 – A.W. Moursund – 115,000 acres

Following the sale of 35,000 acres in South Dakota, it is believed that Moursund and his family own 115,000 acres in Texas and Nebraska, including 56,000 acres in Sheridan and Cherry counties.

1. Ted Turner – 2 million acres

Why on earth would one man own 20 properties in 10 states, a swath of America so large that it not only dwarfs Rhode Island, but also exceeds both Rhode Island and Delaware combined? The answer is astonishingly simple. Because he’s Ted Turner.

The man is incapable of thinking small. That’s how he made his fortune, first by buying a failing UHF station and transforming it into WTBS. Then he launched CNN. Then he acquired the MGM movie library. Then he rolled out Turner Classic Movies. With Turner, one idea begets another, which is how he became the country’s leading land baron.

The brainstorm behind his far-flung empire was a single bison he bought in 1976. Three decades later, he owns 40,000, the largest private herd in the country. Bison steaks and bison burgers from Turner Ranches are shipped to upscale grocers coast to coast and served at his chain of restaurants, Ted’s Montana Grill.

Along the way, he purchased 14 ranches in 7 western states: 4 in Montana, 4 in Nebraska, and 3 others in South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma. In New Mexico alone, he owns more than 1 million acres.

“I acquired more land because I required more land. I wanted it,” Turner said in a 2004 interview. “I never like to buy anything except land. It’s the only thing that lasts.”

The Turner portfolio also includes personal homes in the Atlanta area and in Big Sur, as well as plantations in South Carolina and Florida, where his beloved Avalon lies. This treasured retreat encompasses more than 25,000 acres south of Tallahassee, and with a conservationist’s touch, Turner is reintroducing longleaf pine on the property. The vast majority of his holdings, however, can be found on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountain West, where he stocks his bison.

Turner’s ultimate plan? According to published reports, after his death the properties will go into a trust, which his five children will manage until the last one passes away. At that point, the trust will revert to the Turner Foundation, an Atlanta-based charitable organization that Turner founded in 1990 to preserve the environment.