LDS Church now a major player among Nebraska landowners

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The LDS Church has bought a large part of a western Nebraska ranch, becoming one of the state's largest landowners.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently paid $17.6 million for roughly 88,000 acres that span two counties south of Alliance, 60 miles east of the Nebraska-Wyoming border. The church plans to raise cattle on the land.

The church held more than 140,000 acres in Nebraska before its most recent purchase, said Robert Lamoreaux, vice president of livestock for Farmland Management Co., which manages the church's land holdings. ''We're in business for profit, and of course the profits go to the church,'' Lamoreaux said.

But even with its new total of 228,000 acres of Nebraska land, the church has a way to go before outpacing billionaire Ted Turner, who with 290,000 acres is the largest landowner in the state.

Still, the LDS Church - which is exempt from a state ban on corporate farms and ranches because of its nonprofit status - is now a major player among Nebraska landowners.

''It's a very significant holding. We would maybe have a handful of entities that may own something approaching between 50,000 and 80,000 [acres],'' said Bruce Johnson, professor of agricultural economics at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nebraska does not stand out among the church's land investments. The LDS-owned Deseret Ranch in Florida covers about 300,000 acres, which Lamoreaux said is the largest calf and cattle operation in the nation.

Church President Gordon B. Hinckley sees farm land as a safe investment that carries the potential of feeding people in a time of need, Lamoreaux said.

The land operations, which Lamoreaux said are equal opportunity employers, try to retain previous employees when a new purchase is made.

''I can't even ask an employee if they are a member of the church,'' Lamoreaux said.

The church paid for the Nebraska land in cash, a reflection of the church's teachings against members taking on unnecessary debt, he said.

But John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said deep-pocket out-of-state interests put smaller landowners - who need to borrow to buy land - at a disadvantage.

Smaller ranches are not able to make as much of a profit while paying off debt. That leads to some of those ranches being consolidated and ultimately the disappearance of rural communities, Hansen said.

But cattle rancher Sid Cotton said the Mormons' purchase was a good deal. Workers on LDS ranches in the Sandhills tend to help out their neighbors, he said. ''Yeah, they're pretty nice folks, most of them.''