Niobrara River Ranch is situated at the confluence of Bear Creek with the Niobrara River, including nearly two and half miles of river frontage. The ranch consists of 1,542± acres in Cherry County, Nebraska and is located 12 miles south of Cody. The terrain varies from rolling sandhills, river breaks, and productive flat ground. A 105-acre center pivot provides plenty of winter feed and the property also features a newly built home, shop and barn. Hunting is at premium with the forested Niobrara River breaks and bottoms. Wildlife include deer, elk, upland and migratory birds. This is an excellent ranch with new improvements and scenic value is at a premium.
The improvements are on a flat, overlooking the renowned Niobrara River canyon of Nebraska. All of the improvements are new and move in ready. The pivot adjoins the river breaks, creating excellent feed and habitat for wildlife. Most of the ranch is native sandhills grass with tree filled draws leading down to the river. Most of the interior fences are new four-strand barb wire with creosote posts. Trees on the property include pine, cedar, ash, cottonwood and various others. The southern end of the ranch is surrounded by irrigation pivots and the northern half is vast open and rolling Sandhills. Water is abundant with the confluence of Bear Creek and Niobrara River in the heart of the ranch. A distinguishable feature of the property is a paleontology dig site that prehistoric rhinoceros as well as other fossils and American Indian artifacts have been found.
The Niobrara River Ranch is a secluded, but good access, year-round operation. The land encompasses irrigation, timbered canyon breaks leading to river with deciduous timber bottoms, confluence of Bear Creek with Niobrara river, fertile flat ground, and rolling sandhills range. For the size of the ranch, it is a highly diverse terrain leading to excellent wildlife habitat and a great cattle operation. The improvements are all built in 2018, including a home, barn, shop and pipe corrals. The Niobrara River is an exceptional recreational playground, contains fossils and Native American artifacts. This is an excellent addition to a current operation or a place to start your ranching operation.
Niobrara River Ranch is located in Cherry County, Nebraska, near the town of Cody. Cody is located 42 miles west of Valentine on Highway 20. The property is 12 miles south of Cody via county road. Valentine Airport supports a 4,700 feet runway with jet service. Bus service to the property is provided by Cody-Kilgore High School.
The area is mostly a ranching and farming community. Many people are attracted to the area for the open country and beautiful river valleys, which provide excellent recreation and hunting. The ranch borders a large potato farm that provides opportunity for employment and the community is friendly and always willing to lend a hand. Cody has most services along with a school, which provides busing to the ranch.
Average annual precipitation is 18-20 inches, which the majority of comes during the spring and summer months. Average high temperature ranges from 85 degrees in July to 36 degrees during January. For the most part, the area is noted for low humidity, allowing comfortable evenings and mornings.
1,542± total deeded acres
The property features house, barn, shop and corrals all built in 2018. The house is 2,240 square feet and features an open floor plan with three bedrooms, two and half bath. The master bathroom is complete with its own bathroom. It also includes a spacious laundry room. The house is heated with in-floor radiant heat along with a gas fireplace. Attached to the house is a 1,024 square foot two-car garage. On the front of the house is a 640 square foot covered porch. The shop is 2,880 square feet with 16 foot side walls and cement floor. The barn is also 2,880 square feet, featuring horse and cattle stalls. Corrals are all steel pipe set in concrete. Along with the new improvements, the owners have installed extensive new four-strand barbed wire fences on the surrounding cattle lots.
The main attraction of water is the Niobrara River that flows for two and a half miles through the center of the ranch. The river is widely known for recreational float trips and ranked as a top ten canoeing river. Bear Creek flows into the river on the west side of the ranch. The river and creek provide water for livestock and wildlife. Additionally, there is a solar well on the north side of the river to supply water for livestock. The buildings are supplied by a new well, which also is piped to four livestock tanks on the south side of river. The 2016 valley pivot is supplied with two electric high capacity wells pumping a combined 800gpm.
All of seller's owned mineral rights will be transferred.
Taxes are estimated at $10,575 based upon past years.
Wildlife is abundant on the ranch due to the combination of year around flowing water, tree covered canyons breaks, deciduous tree valley, and excellent food sources. Wildlife habitat is at a premium, which hosts elk, deer, turkeys, upland birds and waterfowl. New to the area is a resident small herd of elk that is expanding. Nebraska does have an elk season that historically has produced bulls in the 400” category. The owners have taken trophy mule and whitetail deer on the property.
The ranch is currently being utilized as a cow/calf operation. The owner rates it at a 125-animal unit in a year-round operation. There is a lease currently on the irrigated pivot that includes a three-pivot rotation with neighboring potato farm. The lease provides corn stalks in the fall and rye in the spring for grazing, along with the ability to put up hay for winter feed. The new owner would have the opportunity to continue this annual lease, or have it terminated and operate the pivot. The pivot has the potential of raising over 500 tons of hay per year. Another option is using the ranch for a winter home base and calving. Owner rates it at 300-350 head based on fall/winter/spring use and utilizing summer range off the ranch. The river breaks provide excellent winter grazing with this scenario. The improvements are new and are set up for livestock use.
