Nebraska timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Nebraska — published stumpage values by species, and a free calculator that turns them into a figure for your own land.
Quick answer
These are stumpage prices for Nebraska — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for white oak sawlogs is $425 per thousand board feet, reported by Missouri Department of Conservation for April–June 2026. Delivered or mill log prices are a different and much higher number, because they include the cost of cutting and hauling the wood. TimberClear lists 40 Nebraska foresters, buyers, loggers and mills who work this timber. What a particular stand brings is settled by a timber cruise, not by a price list.
If you own woodland in Nebraska and you are wondering what it is worth, the number you want is the stumpage price — what a buyer pays you for timber while it is still standing. The most recent published figure for white oak sawlogs in Nebraska is $425 per thousand board feet, reported by Missouri Department of Conservation for April–June 2026. The full table is below.
Two prices get quoted in this business and they are not the same. Stumpage is what reaches you. Delivered, sometimes called the mill or log price, is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard — and the difference between them is the cost of doing all that work. Delivered prices are easier to find online, they are a good deal higher, and a landowner who mistakes one for the other walks into a sale expecting money that was never on the table. Everything on this page is stumpage.
One thing to know before you read the table. Nebraska publishes no standing-timber price report, so these are Missouri's — the nearest reported market for the walnut and oak along Nebraska's eastern river valleys.
Nebraska stumpage prices by species
Missouri Department of Conservation, April–June 2026 · Doyle scale
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Black walnut sawlogs | $2,701 |
| White oak sawlogs | $425 |
| Red oak sawlogs | $132 |
| Hickory sawlogs | $164 |
| Hard maple sawlogs | $120 |
| Mixed hardwood sawlogs | $172 |
Source: Missouri Department of Conservation, April–June 2026. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Nebraska?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $1,140 to $2,270 for hardwood. Smaller trees, a thinner stand or a partial cut bring less. It's a ballpark, not an appraisal.
What is your timber worth?
The table above is the price. The calculator turns it into a figure for your land — it asks your acreage, your species, how big the trees are and how thick they stand, then works the estimate from the prices above. About a minute, and no email needed to see it.
What are my trees worth in Nebraska?
A price list cannot answer that on its own, and any site that tells you otherwise is guessing. Three things decide what an acre brings, and only you can see them: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and what species they are.
Our free timber value calculator asks those three questions and works an estimate from Nebraska's own published prices, the ones in the table on this page. It gives you a range rather than a single figure, because a range is the honest shape of the answer. It takes about a minute and it does not ask for your email to show you the number.
How Nebraska timber is measured
Nebraska timber is sold by the thousand board feet, written MBF.
The Doyle rule counts fewer board feet in a small log than the other rules do, and the gap closes as trees get bigger. That is why two honest buyers can quote what looks like the same price and mean different money. Ask which rule a bid is written on.
Is a timber sale realistic in Nebraska?
Nebraska has a small commercial timber industry, and that matters more than the price does. Where there are few mills bidding, the practical question is whether anybody will come and cut at all.
None of that means your trees are worthless. It means the sale is found rather than looked up — you want somebody who already works your area and knows where the wood goes. Tell us about your tract and we will go looking, and we track where the requests come from so we know which state to build out next.
How much forest Nebraska has, and who owns it
Nebraska has 1.35 million acres of timberland. 89% — about 1.3 million acres — privately owned, across only about 21,000 owners.
The wood itself: Bur oak and eastern cottonwood (54% of forest land); eastern redcedar and ponderosa pine (32%). Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Nebraska's forest is overwhelmingly a private, small-owner resource — 89% of the state's 1.4 million forested acres is privately owned, spread across only about 21,000 owners, a far higher private share than most timber states.
Source: fs.usda.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Nebraska?
No state permit or notification requirement was identified for harvesting timber on private land in Nebraska. The Nebraska Forest Service is an assistance agency rather than a regulator of private harvests.
To be straight with you about how we know that: we looked and found no statewide requirement, which is not quite the same as confirming there is none. County ordinances and local road rules exist that no search of state law turns up. One call to the Nebraska Forest Service settles it before you cut.
Source: nfs.unl.edu
Property tax on Nebraska timberland
Nebraska has no forest-specific property tax program. Woodland generally falls under the agricultural and horticultural classification, which is assessed at a set percentage of actual value.
Source: nebraskalegislature.gov
What the Nebraska Forest Service will do for you, free
District Foresters give free technical advice on forest management, windbreaks, reforestation and timber sales, and staff will help you find the right cost-share grant and fill out the paperwork at no charge.
Worth taking. A state service forester does not bid on your timber and does not take a commission, so the advice comes without a stake in the outcome. They will not run your sale for you — that is a consulting forester's job — but they will tell you what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Source: nfs.unl.edu
Getting the best price for your timber
In a market this thin the first job is not squeezing the price, it is finding somebody who will come and cut at all. Haul distance decides most of it: wood that has to travel a long way to a mill loses its value on the truck, so an operator already working near you is worth more than a better price quoted from three counties over.
Before any of that, have the timber cruised. A cruise is a forester walking your land and measuring what is actually standing, so you are selling a known quantity instead of taking somebody's word for it.
Because Nebraska sells by the board foot, ask which log rule any bid is written on before you compare it to another. The figures on this page are Doyle. The same trees scaled under a different rule produce a different board-foot count, and two honest offers can look further apart, or closer together, than they really are.
And put the terms in writing before anybody starts: what gets cut, what stays, what the land looks like when they leave, and when you get paid.
TimberClear lists 40 Nebraska foresters, buyers, loggers and mills. Every listing is free and complete, including the phone number the business already publishes. We have not vetted, verified or endorsed any of them — the listing tells you who they are and what counties they cover, and the choosing is yours.
40 Nebraska timber businesses
Foresters, buyers, loggers and mills, with the counties each one covers. Free and complete.
Compare states side by side
Pick any states and see their prices next to each other.
Timber price questions in Nebraska
What are timber prices in Nebraska right now?
Missouri Department of Conservation reports white oak sawlogs at $425 per thousand board feet for April–June 2026. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Nebraska are listed on this page, and they move every quarter.
What is stumpage value?
Stumpage is the price paid for timber while it is still standing — the money that reaches the landowner. It is not the same as a delivered or mill log price, which is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard. The gap between the two is the cost of doing that work, and it is large. A delivered price quoted as though it were stumpage will make timber look worth far more than it is.
How much is an acre of timber worth in Nebraska?
It depends on three things the price list cannot tell you: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and whether they are sawtimber or pulpwood size. Sawtimber is worth several times what pulpwood is worth per ton. TimberClear's free timber value calculator asks those questions and works the estimate from Nebraska's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Does Nebraska publish its own timber prices?
Nebraska publishes no standing-timber price report, so these are Missouri's — the nearest reported market for the walnut and oak along Nebraska's eastern river valleys.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Nebraska?
No state permit or notification requirement was identified for harvesting timber on private land in Nebraska. The Nebraska Forest Service is an assistance agency rather than a regulator of private harvests. We found no statewide requirement, which is not the same as confirming there is none — county ordinances exist that a search of state law does not turn up, so check locally before you cut.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Nebraska?
Nebraska runs General agricultural land classification. Nebraska has no forest-specific property tax program. Woodland generally falls under the agricultural and horticultural classification, which is assessed at a set percentage of actual value.
Who can help me manage my timber in Nebraska for free?
The Nebraska Forest Service. District Foresters give free technical advice on forest management, windbreaks, reforestation and timber sales, and staff will help you find the right cost-share grant and fill out the paperwork at no charge.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Nebraska?
Get more than one offer. A sealed-bid sale run by a consulting forester puts buyers in competition with each other, and that is the single biggest lever a landowner has. Have the timber cruised first so you know what you are selling, and put the terms in writing before anybody starts cutting. TimberClear lists 40 Nebraska businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.