Niobrara ranch going, going, gone!

VALENTINE, Neb. — No opening bid at $10 million. None at $5 million. But one minute into the much-anticipated auction of the Circle Cross Ranch, bidding on one parcel of the 40,520-acre operation on the Niobrara River started at $2 million. Forty-three minutes later, cattleman Jack Bond’s entire ranch sold for $11.75 million. The winning bidders were cattlemen Danny Weinreis of Minatare, Neb., and Gene Weinreis of Golva, N.D., representing a partnership of seven brothers. The premium sale price equates to $977.54 an acre for the 12,020 deeded acres of the sprawling ranch southwest of Valentine. That compares with an average $475 per acre value for Sand Hills grazing land, according to recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank surveys. The comparison, however, isn’t direct. In addition to the deeded acres, the ranch includes access to valuable grazing leases on 28,500 acres of federal, state and private land. Still, the sale established the true value of Nebraska’s Sand Hills ranchland, said auction moderator Bill Sheridan of Mason, Mich. “It’s the perfect appraisal,” Sheridan said. “The market was here to establish what it was truly worth. It was a cash sale in a bidding atmosphere.” The auction of the trophy property attracted some of Cherry County’s largest landowners and about 30 bidders from across the country. Cowboy hats and farm caps dominated the crowd, but bib overalls and tailored suits were sprinkled among the nearly 300 people who filled the Cedar Canyon Steakhouse ballroom. Dozens sat at round tables and crunched the numbers on calculators and conducted quiet conversations on cellphones. Hall and Hall auctioneer Scott Shuman of Eaton, Colo., divided the ranch into four tracts for the sale. Tract 1 was 12,020 deeded acres that included the main ranch house and grazing leases. Tract 2 was 16,500 acres that included state-of-the-art calving barns, shops and shed and grazing leases. Tracts 3 and 4 were pivot-irrigated cropland. Tract 1’s high bid was $4.1 million. Tract 2 topped at $1.9 million. Tract 3’s high was $300,000 and Tract 4’s was $525,000. The two high bidders for the four individual tracts offered a total of $6.825 million. Shuman then opened bidding for the entire ranch. The opening bid was $7 million. There were at least six competing bidders at the end. Within five minutes, the Weinreis brothers had the high bid of $11.75 million. Bidding continued on combinations of tracts in an attempt to give others a chance to buy parcels of the ranch — but only if the total tract bids exceeded the Weinreis offer. “There will be a new owner of the Circle Cross Ranch tonight,” Sheridan said during a pause. He touted the ranch’s recreational and grazing attributes and its investment value. There is a groundswell in America today to take money from the stock market and retirement accounts and invest it in land, he said. Shuman eventually gave bidders 60 seconds to top the Weinreis total. None did. Among the final bidders was Rob Finlay of Summit Meadows Farm in Peterborough, N.H. He stopped at $11 million. Finlay, a bison and cattle rancher, said he only recently learned of the sale and traveled Monday to Valentine to see the ranch. “This is some of the best cattle country in the United States,” he said. “We’d like to be out here. We just didn’t have time to put it all together.” Ron Sparks of Broadwater, Neb., who owns land south of Circle Cross, said cattlemen at his table speculated that the property would sell for at least $15 million and that its value would double in a decade. Valentine rancher Gary Swanson attended out of curiosity. He said that many agricultural producers considered the Circle Cross to be a “management nightmare” because of its hills and canyons and the Niobrara dissecting the property. Bruce Johnson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economist, said, “Given typical rangeland carrying capacity in that part of the Sand Hills, the (sale) price seems high,” he said. “So the amenities of the property itself were probably bid into the final price, and may, in fact, have accounted for as much as $150 to $200 per acre.” Bond, 80, sold the ranch for health reasons. He did not attend the sale. Earlier this year, Bond donated a 200-acre parcel of a ranch he once owned on the Dismal River south of Seneca, Neb., to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Bond’s gruff exterior belies his generous heart, said Megahn Schafer of Lincoln, the foundation’s senior director of gift planning. “Not only is he a ranching entrepreneur, but he’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” she said. “He’s amazing. He’s very generous to his family, his employees and to his business associates.” Danny Weinreis said that he and his brothers plan to continue operating the Circle Cross as a cattle ranch. “It’s really great cattle country here,” he said. “We’re cow-calf operators. That’s what we’re looking for: a good feed base and a place to run mother cows.” Contact the writer: 402-444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

* * * * *

The Omaha World-Herald's David Hendee was Tweeting updates. Follow his reports on Twitter here.

Note: If the widget below doesn't load, hit refresh and wait a few seconds.

« Metro/Region

Share