Farm Land Related News, Drought, Water Supply, Prices

Drought news, farm land prices, water supply, aquifer over allocation and falling water table news.

Much more relative information updated daily at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Western-States-Water-Rights/116535525087733

Relevant information on Water and Water Rights at http://nevadawaterrights.com/

Land sale information for irrigated Nevada farm and ranch land, over allocated basin news, falling water tables, and areas you can own within stable designated basins. If you are unsure about these terms, you better find a qualified professional before you buy!

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Ranch Land, Irrigated Farm Land, Drought, Food Prices, and Water Rights

Irrigated Farm Land, Cattle Ranches with Water Rights listed and sold here.

Much of Nevada land is public owned lands. Nevada has the most public lands in the continental United States, much of it is managed by the BLM or Bureau of Land Management. Water Rights on Ranch land in Nevada is our most precious resource.

Many Nevada Ranches have BLM range land leases for grazing livestock. For instance, you can own 1000 acres and have grazing access to 40,000 acres through these lease arrangements. There are a few important considerations when shopping the ranch land market and leases. Are the water rights owned, is the land contiguous to the leases?

Range land condition and shared occupancy matter also. Are there wild horses on the ranges? While wild horses are beautiful and an American heritage, they can be very hard on the range land and compete with livestock for the food and water resources on the range land.

Water and drought are coming to the forefront in terms of farm and ranch land purchase considerations. Cattle herds are being sold off today due to lack of water and feed in much of the United States. This will lead to a shrinking supply of beef at your grocery store and of course higher prices.

Alfalfa hay supply is in very tight demand with rising prices. Relative to world population arable farm land continues to shrink.

Today it is not just drought that worries farmers and ranchers, ground water aquifers have begun to come into question. Falling ground water tables and regulations coming out of Washington DC's EPA are making some farm land useless. Investing in farm and ranch land continues to be a focus of some of Wall Street's brightest investors.

Just as mineral rights are important to mining and oil companies, water rights are paramount to farmers and ranchers. However, if there are no minerals or water in the ground, rights matter not.

This area of real estate is specialized; it requires a special set of skills and market market knowledge. Issues like critical water shortages, range land quality, AUM regulation, basin allocation, water table stability, etc.

If you are interested in investing in farm or ranch land or you are considering a career in agriculture, you must be prepared. I will be happy to help you understand the important questions you need to be asking.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

World Food Shortages, Food Inflation, Shrinking Arable Farm Land, Water Shortages, and Water Rights

Leading the way to higher food production utilizing less water and energy is a lofty goal to feed the increasingly hungry world. As the population expands demand will increase. Energy and fresh water use are both exponentially becoming critical to humanities ability to not only survive but save our planet.

Food production requires both energy and water. Quality food production without growth hormones, pesticides, and many other types of toxins has become high priority for many consumers. Look at Whole Foods success and the organic food craze. Who in the world would not choose a healthier diet given the opportunity?

So how do we get from old traditional farming techniques to a more efficient, productive, resource conserving food producing world? Can the free market with innovation and capitalism driven by consumer demand really make the numbers work? New innovative irrigation technology has made huge strides in recent years in both production and water consumption. We all know the government spending our money, picking winners and losers is not the answer, it up to you and me.

From the beginning of cultivation and farming, they have lived and died by the fickle and unpredictable weather, praying for rain, cursing floods and drought. Weather affects crops to the extreme. Our world weather patterns are becoming increasingly unpredictable. You can not argue with the statistics, the ice caps are melting and the last ten years have had record warm temperatures. Drought currently grips much of the world. The weather has the potential to put world food supplies at extremely vulnerable levels in the near future.

Drought and flooding today is having a dramatic affect on food production in Europe, China, Africa, America, and Russia.

As the wealth effect spreads throughout the emerging markets, protein is in increasingly higher demand. This is not a fad; China and India are demanding more beef, pork, dairy, and poultry. These countries consist of billions of consumers; all who would like to eat more like Americans, less rice! The middle class in these countries is exploding and they now have the discretionary income to demand higher quality foods. China has 20 percent of the world’s population and only 7 percent of the arable farm land. They have a serious problem with drought right now compounding their dilemma.

At the same time the aquifers of the world are dropping. Much of the world’s food production is not only subject to fickle weather patterns requiring the pumping ground water. This resource may be a far greater problem than peak oil. It is a combination of dwindling availability and contamination.

The average cow will drink 30 to 50 gallons of fresh water or a bath tub full per day, and eat up 90 pounds of feed. Hogs or pork production is not much different. Growing corn requires nearly 3000 gallons of water per bushel, Alfalfa requires about one acre foot per ton of hay, which is 325,851 gallons of fresh water per ton. These farm animals are the only source of the beef and pork the world demands. Cows are of course the primary source of dairy. All protein rich foods.

Speaking of the cattle, pork, and dairy industries, if you think you can keep antibiotics out of animals, dairy, and farming, you are dreaming. Prior to penicillin people regularly died from simple infections. You or some of the people you love would be dead today if you had been denied antibiotics.

So this brings us to the balance of the human food sources, fruits, vegetables, and grains. None of these grow without fresh water and good quality arable farm ground. Arable farm is a shrinking natural resource world wide. Aquifers world wide are dropping and irrigation pumping restrictions and reductions are becoming common in some of the most fertile and productive growing areas in the world.

The world will reward richly those who can produce quality food utilizing less water, less energy, and less land, or better yet turn today‘s unproductive lands into food producing regions.

Nevada has abundant affordable land, sunshine, and excellent solar intensity. Much of this land does not produce crops today. Can geothermal climate control coupled with solar, heat and cool green houses? Can hydroponics growing techniques reduce water consumption? Is it possible to eliminate the weather risk and seasonal limitations in farming by bringing farming indoors?

There are many ways you protect yourself and help solve the inevitable food and water shortages. Build your own greenhouse, get some egg laying chickens, get involved in your community gardening program or help develop one. Become educated about water consumption and use. Plant a garden. Move to a small farm.

If you are interested in the business opportunity utilizing affordable land to bring food production indoors in Nevada, call Chris W. Miller at 435-862-5951. We have the business plans, water rights, and the land.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Will There Be Water?

Will There Be Water?

In the space of a lifetime, critical issues about water use, and the availability of fresh water will confront the world. Food production, municipalities, industry, and energy will all compete for a dwindling natural resource, Water.

Excerpts from Southwest Hydrology September/October 2008, with some Commentary!
Early in U.S. history, public policy was fashioned to encourage settlement of the West. Laws such as the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Desert Lands Act of 1877 were framed to transfer government land to settlers. In 1902 the Reclamation Act provided funding for construction and maintenance of western irrigation projects. In its first annual report (1903), Reclamation had this to say" so that the remaining public lands will furnish the greatest possible number of homes, is an object worthy of the sustained effort of enlightened and patriotic citizens". The public works that followed included such things as Hoover Dam, Shasta Dam, Newlands project, Yuma Project, Klamath project, Hetchy Aqueduct, and many more. With the 1902 Reclamation act the face of the West was changed forever. It must be pointed out and understood, these efforts and projects were directed at irrigation needs, based on a population that farmed for a living. Nothing like the urban shifts projected today!
Basin and Range Carbonate Aquifer System Study

What is a Water Table?

NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California

Groundwater Depletion Rate Accelerating Worldwide

Then came the drought-at a magnitude that had no probability of occurring, according to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation models based on a century of historical data. Sorry science guys, in the big picture, a century of data, barely counts as a data base.
In the blink of an eye, half a decades work to manage the Colorado River and meet the supply requirement and commitments has faded, as have the water levels in the Colorado River's two prime reservoirs. Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Today science is telling to expect less in the future.

Lake Powell Water Levels

Lake Mead Water Levels

The opportunity to own water rights in this arid region, especially at today's prices will soon go by the way side. This offering price is currently subject to change without notice.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Water Shortages, Water Rights and Nevada’s Great Basin Water

The Great Basin is unique when it comes to water because the rivers have no outlet to the sea.
It is made up of many smaller drainage basins.

There is a complicated system of hydrology below the very interesting geology and topography of fractured, tilted plates of the Earth’s crust, that make up the Great Basin. Often referred to as Basin and Range because those tilted plates create mountain ranges that run from north to south. As the Earths crust stretched, cracked and tilted, it created large dry valleys or basins between the ranges. These basins can be compared to bowls that collect the snowmelt off the mountains. The alluvial fans are like great sponges, absorbing the meltwater into the ground. The snowpack is the primary recharge for the aquifers.

Nevada and the Great Basin is divided by the Nevada State Engineers Office into 256 ground water basins, some are “designated basins“. Designated basins, when it comes to water, may only be open to additional allocations for preferred uses, like municipalities for additional pumping.

Scientists are and have been measuring water table levels, spring flow rates, and precipitation for many years. We know pumping affects water table levels. We know the average precipitation, but then that is history. Today drought is in the news and many scientists believe more drought is likely in our future, due to climate pattern changes taking place. Future recharge rates are speculative.

They know the maximum consumption allowed by the existing recorded water rights. Not all basins are decreed and some additional rights could be out there and are not recorded but valid. Domestic wells are generally not considered, no permit is required to drill a domestic well, and they are limited to two acre feet per year in consumption.

The terminology of Hydrology seems very complicated, at least for this layperson. The science, like most science attempting to make future projections is speculative, especially the flows between the many basins and the aquifer recharge rates. New discoveries in all science fields rewrite what we thought we knew as fact, everyday.

Unfortunately, we may not have the answers to some of the most important questions until the water tables have dropped and the Seeps and Springs are gone. The scientists can not tell us when the flow rates of Seeps and the Springs may slow, or even dry up. The truth is they can only speculate. They do not know how drought will affect recharge rates of the aquifers, and they certainly do not know how long or severe the drought may be. There is far more that science is unsure of, than there is that can be actually guaranteed.

July 27, 2010 at the Aspen Institute's Environment Forum, Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt at the “Hot and Dry: Water in the West and the World,” told the audience,

“Water scarcity is an issue, not everywhere, but in some regions. The American Southwest is not one of those regions where there is water scarcity. It's hard to believe given all the hyping in the national and local and regional press.”

This is right in line with Pat Mulroy’s statement when she said, “The hyperbole (hyper exaggerations) coming from rural Nevadan’s about their water table concerns was childish.”

You have to wonder what motivates Mr. Babbitt to say such a stupid thing, but then Pat Mulroy was also on the three person panel with him, and they were in Aspen Colorado. A poster child for conspicuous consumption and environmental lunatics. These are people who would like to tell you how many children you are allowed to have, and how large your carbon footprint can be, as they fly off in their private jet. They are asking for more of your dollars in the form of Obama’s Green stimulus money. Watch the forum videos!

They have already spent $ 80 Billion Dollars on Green stimulus bailout, and by the way, Harry Reid is claiming credit for the few short term jobs in Nevada this money created in his political race against Sharron Angle.

Southern Nevada Water Authority has proposed a pipeline from Las Vegas through Lincoln County and continuing into White Pine County on to the North. The Las Vegas Valley water district, now SNWA, filed 146 ground water applications in 1989 for undeveloped, unproven ground water in Eastern Nevada. This spark has lit the fuse for the battles to come. They do not at this time have approval for the water needed to supply this pipeline.

The Colorado River Compact allows Las Vegas 400,000 acre feet of water from Lake Mead. On average, one acre foot will supply two homes per year. A study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego said there's a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, could run dry by 2021. In the last ten years Lake Mead has dropped from around 1200 ft. to below 1100 ft. today. At 1050 ft. Hoover Dam will stop generating electricity, and at 1000 ft. Las Vegas will lose the lower intake for the city‘s water supply.

Currently Lake Mead (The Colorado River) supplies 90% of the water to the Las Vegas Metro area. The Colorado River serves Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, and Mexico, over 30 million people live in this region. We now know that based on the twenty year river flow study leading up to the Colorado River Compact in 1922, the river was over allocated by one million acre feet when the compact was signed and the shortage has only become worse.

The NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) study has found since 2003 the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region the Central Valley and its major mountain water source the Sierra Nevada have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. This area represents nearly one sixth of all the United States irrigated land and the dropping water tables have the potential to have huge implications to the US economy.

None of this news is new , in fact the warnings have been ignored for over one hundred years. Panelists Bruce Babbit, Pat Mulroy, Sandra Postel and The Aspen Institute’s Environment Forum are apparently more interested in advancing their agenda than dealing with facts and truth.

John Wesley Powell told the International Irrigation Congress in Los Angeles in 1893,

“You are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over the water rights, there is no sufficient water to supply the land.”

Many, many scientific studies today are clearly confirming his thoughts.

I wonder what John Wesley Powell would think today?

How limited are your water resources?

Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Problem

Is Las Vegas Running out of Water? Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Problem

May 26, 2010 I attended the Southern Nevada Certified Commercial Investment Managers (CCIM) Chapter monthly meeting at the Rio in Las Vegas. I went for one reason, the title and speaker,
“How You May Be Impacted by Nevada’s Water Supply” presented by Pat Mulroy.

Mrs. Mulroy is the general manager of Southern Nevada Water Authority.

As a long time real estate professional who specializes in agricultural land with water rights in Nevada, I talk with Nevada’s farmers and ranchers’ everyday; I was shocked by the introduction.

The lady introducing Mrs. Mulroy said about her, among other things, how wonderful she is, how hard she works, how powerful she is, and then she said, “and something I’ll bet none of you know about her, She HATES COWS”.

Mrs. Mulroy took the stage and went on to say “anything that dumb and big has to be dangerous” referring to cattle. The friendly crowd of men and women dressed in suits and ties laughed.

I on the other hand, immediately took umbrage, and thought to myself, I wonder if this lady realizes where the food in the grocery store comes from.

I took notes the whole time she talked.

Her presentation seemed to me to be based on the fear factor.

She talked about snow pack in Colorado this past winter being at 67% of normal. She talked about continuing drought conditions.

She explained that Lake Mead is running an annual deficit of approximately 2.7 million acre feet this year. There are 8.2 million acre feet coming in and 10.9 million acre feet going out.

Mrs. Mulroy explained the Lake Mead Water level measurements  with future projections.

But first let me give you a little history, from 1939 to 2003 Lake Mead averaged 1173 foot elevation, the high water or maximum point for Lake Mead is 1229.
Today Lake Mead stands at about 1094. Since the canyon narrows as it descends, the water level drops faster and faster as it is over drafted, so expect the drop to accelerate.

Mrs. Mulroy explained that at the 1088 foot elevation level they could lose the upper intake for the water supply to Boulder City and 40% of Las Vegas’s supply.

She said, “At 1050 Hoover Dam stops generating power and that the dam supplies all of the electricity to Overton Power and Lincoln County Power.”

“At 1000 Vegas loses the lower intake that would literally cut off 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas and all of the water supply to Boulder City.”

She stated that, Southern Nevada Water Authority uses approximately 9.5 million acre feet per year, (that sounds like ten times too much to me) and once Lake Mead goes below 1025 there are only 4 to 5 million acre feet of water left in the reservoir.

She said the Lincoln and White Pine Counties pipeline will start construction in 2012  if the lake goes below 1075, period!
What makes you think they will stop in White Pine and Lincoln Counties?

Her facts can be verified at: http://www.snwa.com/html/wr_resource_plan.html

Pat Mulroy said “SNWA will be utilizing all the water rights it owns or controls in the Virgin River, which runs through Mesquite/Bunkerville and the Muddy River in Moapa/Overton".

Work has begun on a so called third straw.  It has been referred to as a bath tub drain.

Michael Johnson, Virgin Valley Water District hydrologist, told me years ago the aquifer that runs under our Mesquite Valley travels under Lake Mead, could they tap into it?

She said “the hyperbole (hyper exaggerations) coming from rural Nevadan’s about their water table concerns was childish.” She went on to say “the rural Nevada farmers and ranchers are being Pig Headed.”

She referenced a recent USGS Basin and Range study  that she claims shows plenty of extra water. I have not yet located any completed study.

When I asked, she said the reason for the huge draw down or overdraft, according to a recent NASA study in California’s Central Valley was the result of farmers irrigating and lack of government regulation. New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region -- the Central Valley -- and its major mountain water source -- the Sierra Nevada -- have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir.

Finally for the record, she said “there are plenty of un-appropriated water rights in Nevada and the Snake Basin is next in her sights.”

When I questioned her on that, she lashed out at me, “Do you have a better idea?”

She appears to me to be dead set on tapping into and draining rural East Central and North Eastern Nevada, Western Utah and Southern Idaho’s aquifers to supply Las Vegas.

They did it to Pahrump, Nevada

She said” If I have to set up a cot in Harry Reid’s office, I will stay until I get a permanent chair”. I did not know Harry passed out water rights. That job belongs to the Nevada State Engineer.

She said to watch for a favorable Moodys Rating Agency report coming out that should help support project financing in Las Vegas. I wonder if Moodys knows any thing about water. Remember the rating agencies said the Mortgage Backed Securities were safe and secure too.

She may be powerful, but based on her comments, attitude and general demeanor; clearly she is not as sharp as you would expect!

That does not mean you should underestimate her ability or determination to get this done.


You can learn more about me by searching “Irrigated Nevada farm and ranch land with water rights for sale” on any search engine.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Water Rights on Nevada Ranches and Irrigated Nevada Farms For Sale

Nevada Ranch and Farm Land with Water Rights Issues

Are you unsure if all the hype about water and food shortages in the future is real or just?

The science is mounting and it is not any one single cause or source. You may not buy into global warming or maybe you do and just do not believe it is man caused. Either way drought is real.

As mentioned the science is mounting in favor of serious problems in coming decades for mankind’s ability to provide adequate fresh drinking water and food to the increasing billions of us on the planet.

In previous blogs I have referenced National Geographic’s April 2010 Special Issue, “Water Our Thirsty World”. They clearly believe we have a problem already in many parts of the world including parts of the United States.

A new study called, the gravity recovery and climate experiment, or GRACE shows the following.

“Combined, California's Sacramento and San Joaquin drainage basins have shed more than 30 cubic kilometers of water since late 2003, said Jay Famiglietti, UCI Earth system science professor and director of the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling. A cubic kilometer is about 264.2 billion gallons, enough to fill 400,000 Olympic-size pools. The bulk of the loss occurred in the state's agricultural Central Valley. The Central Valley depends on irrigation from both groundwater wells and diverted surface water.

"GRACE data reveal groundwater in these basins is being pumped for irrigation at rates that are not sustainable if current trends continue," Famiglietti said. "This is leading to declining water tables, water shortages, decreasing crop sizes and continued land subsidence. The findings have major implications for the U.S. economy, as California's Central Valley is home to one-sixth of all U.S. irrigated land and the state leads the nation in agricultural production and exports."

The loss is nearly enough to fill Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir and Las Vegas Nevada’s primary water source. The Central Valley’s major source of water comes from the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Source: University of California - Irvine (2009, December 15). California's troubled waters: Satellite-based findings reveal significant groundwater loss in Central Valley. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214152022.htm

Next week I will be attending a luncheon in Las Vegas;
How You May be Impacted by Nevada’s Water Supply
Presentation by: Pat Mulroy
General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority

I will report what she has to say about our water in Nevada.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Retire Secure, Happy, Healthy and Self Sufficient

The UN may be wrong about the world’s oceans running out of fish
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100518/ts_afp/speciesfishunus/

The news about food shortages today and tomorrow may be wrong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security/

The news about fresh water shortages may be wrong
http://environmentalism.suite101.com/article.cfm/environmental_cost_of_global_freshwater_shortage

The IMF may wrong about fiscal deficits and global financial crisis
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/RES111009A.htm

Al Gore and his wacky environmental friends may be wrong about global warming
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17718399

This writer seems be advocating a China approach, “But if resources are limited, the last thing we need is a growing population. We would be better off with a smaller population, so that earth’s limited resources can be shared among a smaller number of people, providing more for each person. If families start having only one child each, this would be helpful from a resources point of view, but it would make it even more difficult to pay off out all of the outstanding debt, in addition to paying for Social Security and Medicare benefits for all the seniors.” From The Intelligence Daily
http://www.inteldaily.com/2010/04/social-security-and-medicare-funding-issues-even-worse-when-one-considers-resource-constraints

These people believe it is government’s responsibility, “Governments are responsible for providing access to adequate food to eliminate hunger, malnutrition and starvation.
http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=145

Obama and his crowd would probably go for this idea! Actually they may be taking us down this road of becoming a totally dependant society deliberately.

These people say oil sands may as hazardous as the Gulf oil leak, “Oil sands development is 'kind of like the gulf spill but playing out in slow motion', said report co-author Doug Cogan, director of climate risk management at RiskMetrics. He called it a 'land-based' version of the gulf disaster.” http://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/05/17/5627

Much of this information feels like it is presented with a bias agenda, and some seem to lack basic common sense, whether it is backed by a guy with a degree in a science field or not.

We do know between 15,000 to 25,000 children die each day around the world because of malnutrition and water borne disease. We do know malnutrition is a serious problem in the United States for seniors and children living in poverty.

We do know we are overdrafting aquifers around the world and fresh water tables are dropping in many parts of the United States and around the world.

We do know the demand for food and fresh water will increase as the world’s population increases.

Many around the world can not help themselves out of this daily nightmare. Unfortunately this scenario is going to get worse as we place greater demand on finite resources.

Many are convinced these trends will lead to a resurgence in rural America. So there you have it, my agenda. I sell rural land in Nevada with water rights. A place where you can create a sustainable self sufficient lifestyle that could protect you from becoming a statistic.

Lifestyle is what draws most people to rural living; it gives them a sense of getting back to their fundamental roots. Raising a garden, chickens that lay fresh eggs, fruit trees and farm raised meats.

I am convinced economics, urban blight and a desire for an active productive lifestyle will bring many more to consider affordable rural lifestyles. Retired does not mean dead, although it might if you don’t stay active.

When you combine a nice little piece of land and a small efficient home with proper solar orientation, a mild climate, some good dirt and water, you have the basic recipe.

Marketing to retirees has largely been focused on golf, activity/recreation center with social clubs in large planned unit developments, which is fine for some, but there are other options.

Your grand children will enjoy visiting your “farm”.

I have some good friends, they live in what he and his wife lovingly refer to as their “bunk house”, it is small but quite luxurious. It is completely solar, with propane and a wood burning stove. A solar pump provides water. They raise most all their own food, and have a nice little income from extra produce sold at the farmers market. They have television and internet, and a small green house. They tell me this new lifestyle is the greatest thing they have ever done, short of raising some great kids. They are some of the happiest people I know!

They also tell me they sleep very well at night knowing that no matter goes on in the world, they “feel” secure.

Our ancestors lived off the land; you can go back to a slower, simpler, more rewarding way of life. The biggest difference today from back then is modern technology. Instead of plowing your garden behind a horse, you can ride a small tractor. You can raise chickens to lay eggs or broilers that are designed to be eaten. You can have peacocks and geese as watch dogs and security systems.

We are looking at and working on developing larger tracts for mini farms. Some bankers seem to think this idea is crazy and have told me no one will ever buy it. I would appreciate your thoughts, ideas, and input. Does this make sense to you?

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Judge Slaps State Engineer Over SNWA Pipeline Water Rights

The temperature just went up in Las Vegas and it may get even drier.

In a recent ruling Nevada Judge Norman Robison ruled that State Engineer Tracy Taylor “abused his discretion” and “acted arbitrarily, capriciously and oppressively”

This is big news for both sides of the proposed SNWA pipeline issue and it sounds like the Nevada Supreme Court will most likely get to hear this case.

You can read the whole story at Las Vegas Review Journal and The Ely Times.

If you not planning to build a pipeline and would like to find a nice Nevada Farm or Cattle Ranch with water rights, we have few listed for sale. If you have one you are considering selling, Talk to Chris before listing it another broker, he knows his stuff.

Land in Nevada with Water Rights is listed and available today.

Chris W. Miller is a Nevada Farm and Ranch with Water Rights Specialist
at ERA Brokers Consolidated Mesquite, Nevada

702-346-7200 or 435-862-5951
ERA Brokers Consolidated
Mesquite NV 89027

Mesquite Market

chris@mesquitemarket.com

Lincoln County Land Market

Nevada Ranch Properties

City Of Mesquite Purchases Land Without Appraisal

City of Mesquite Recently Purchased Land for New Library

Mesquite Nevada Commercial Real Estate Market, information every investor should know.

The City of Mesquite just closed on a prime parcel of land on Mesquite Blvd to build a new library. The City of Mesquite could use a nice new shiny library with all the bells and whistles.

They paid $1,717,000 for 3.22 acres, that is 140,263 square feet or $12.24 per square foot. So much for the $20 a foot the market has been asking for years for Mesquite Blvd frontage. Reports are no appraisal was required by the buyer, the City of Mesquite.

Who spends nearly two million tax dollars without the benefit of a professional opinion of value? I am surprised The City of Mesquite can even do that legally.

The is one more commercial land sale to report in the past twelve months through MLS. It was a quarter acre sold for $92,500 or $8.85 a square foot, located on Hafen just south of the Maverik the gas station. This sale was nice street frontage and would have been used as a comparable in my opinion.

Not only are the City of Mesquite elected officials out of control, so is the city manager.

What the heck, it is just our tax dollars they are spending anyway, RIGHT?

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Water Rights Sale Inked

Recent water rights sale transactions in Nevada includes 35 shares of Virgin River surface water. There are about 10 acre feet per share under the Virgin River Share arrangement in the Mesquite and Bunkerville irrigation system.

"In 1961 water shares in the valley were worth $14 per share and you were a damn fool to buy them" stated Cecil Leavitt, a Virgin Valley board director. He went on to say "Today they are worth more than the land".

The final sale price for the 35 shares was $2,801,968 or about $80,056 per share. That translates to over $8000 per acre foot for surface water rights.

The surface water is not currently used by the buyer of the rights, Virgin Valley Water District as drinking water. Construction of a water treatment plant to purify the water will be required for the local rate payers to see any beneficial use from the purchase.

There are few reasons the district would go ahead with the purchase now, except the fact that if they did not buy the shares now, Southern Nevada Water Authority might. Once they are owned and headed to Las Vegas they would never be available in the Virgin River Valley again.

This story will play out across Nevada over and over in the next few years. Basins are being closed to additional allocations, additional permits are being denied. What currently exists will only increase in value. Demand continues to grow from domestic growth to agricultural needs and uses.

Funny to hear "you would have to have been a damn fool to pay $14 a share in 1961, and it just sold for over $80,000 ".

While few had the foresight then, the future of water rights in Nevada seems very clear today. What do you think they will be saying in another twenty years?

Chris W. Miller is a Nevada Irrigated farm and ranch land specialist; most of his currently listed properties have water rights. Call Chris today for more information.
Ref:Mesquite Local News Oct. 22, 2009


Chris W. Miller

ERA Brokers Consolidated
Mesquite NV 89027
702- 346-7200
435-862-5951

Mesquite Market

chris@mesquitemarket.com

Lincoln County Land Market

Nevada Ranch Properties

Land, Food, Agriculture, and Water Rights in Nevada

Fortune magazine, June 22, 2009 issue has a good article on “Why Farm Land is Hot”. Why ETF’s are investing today for the long haul on the food and water shortages in our future. From 1960 to 2000 the world went from over one acre of arable land per person to just over a half acre of arable land per person.

Growing populations and the shrinking supply of arable land will be a key focus of humanity as millions starve in the not too distant future. Water in many locations is the key to food production.

Water rights in Nevada are our most valuable resource. Irrigated agricultural land is available and the prices are increasing. Many basins in Nevada are closed to any future additional water rights; the supply side is very limited and will not increase. While demand continues to grow, with or without future housing developments.

We have cattle ranches with live springs filling stock tanks to water the cattle, and the ranch owns those water rights. We have sections of land with irrigation pivots watering grains like wheat and barley, as well as potatoes, and alfalfa. These irrigation pivots are fed from wells on the land and the farmers own those water rights.

Many farmers are willing to pay handsome lease payments to farm this ground, offering good rates of return to investors. You can own a half full strip mall with falling rents and potential future higher vacancy rates, or farm land with water rights.

If you have the means and are still not sure of the future demand, check out what the executives from some the nation’s largest agricultural companies have to say about the future demand.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market

Investing in Nevada Irrigated Farm and Ranch Land with Water Rights

When most people think of farm land and ranch property, they think open ranges, hay fields, cattle and cowboys riding horses.

Wall Street seems like a far off place in another world. A fast paced place driven by profit and greed.

It seems the classic contradiction, slower paced, straight talking, down to earth folks making their living off the land verses the Bernie Madoff and George Soros types.

Truth is, the story I am about to tell you just may be a little sad, because Wall Street is buying up the farm. Over the past few years investment power houses like BlackRock, and retirement plan giants like TIAA-CREF has been plowing money into farmland. In Nevada farm land generally means land with water rights, due to the arid climate.

These are smart people who are motivated by money and profit.

Here is the deal; the fundamentals are in place for a long term boom in prices for everything AG-related. Consider this; in 1960 there were 1.1 acres of arable farmland per person globally, according to data from the United Nations. By 2000 that number had fallen to .6 acres. Over the next 40 years the world population is projected to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion.

According to Joachim von Braun, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, “Land is scarce and will become scarcer as the world has to double food output to satisfy increased demand by 2050”. “With limited land and water resources, this will automatically lead to increased valuations of productive land.” Von Braun goes on to say, “It goes hand in hand with water, Water scarcity will probably increase even more than land.”
Water in Nevada is today in short supply and clearly demand will outpace supply as they continue to close basins to new permits. Water rights in Nevada have another issue facing the dwindling supply, the demographic shift of the baby boomers to the more tax favorable warmer climate. Choices, decisions, are being made today, do we use the water for agriculture and food production, or do we pipe to Las Vegas for culinary use.

Farmers and cattle ranchers want to stay in the business, but millions of dollars waved under their noses make it tough to say no to the sale. Many will stay on and lease to continue to live the lifestyle they love. These lease payments are cash flow on the investments. Could it be a win-win situation?

Commodities guru Jim Rogers says, “I’m convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time.”

Meanwhile, B.L. Harris, acting director of the Texas Water Resource Institute, knows well the problems of the Ogallala system. “The one big issue with regard to the Ogallala is the fact that the annual recharge is much, much lower than the extraction rate that we are putting on the aquifer at the present time. The aquifer is over-drafted to a substantial extent.” The Ogallala is one of the world’s largest aquifers covering 174,000 square miles; it runs from South Dakota to Texas. Some estimates say it will dry up in as little as 25 years.
Farmers are smart and they talk, they may wear overalls and talk funny, but farming is older than Wall Street.

Water and food are the sources of life for the planet, demand is guaranteed to grow. There are few guarantees on Wall Street. Farming is a difficult business, but it is a fine tuned machine, executed properly it is a huge profit opportunity.

Chris W. Miller is Nevada irrigated farm and ranch land specialist with ERA Brokers Consolidated. Chris has Nevada farms as small as 266 acres with ground water rights, to Nevada cattle ranches with large BLM rangeland leases, listed and available for sale. For information about Nevada farm and ranch land with water rights call

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market