By Jeff Marshall | Associate Broker & Auctioneer | Marshall Land Brokers & Auctioneers marshallauction.com

I want to tell you about a sale that still puts a smile on my face.
A good friend of mine owned 145.42 acres of pivot-irrigated cropland north of Loomis, out near Westmark Church. Top quality soils, good productive ground – but there was a canal running through it that gave everyone pause. When we sat down and talked through the options, we were honest with him about it. A canal like that can limit a buyer pool. It raises questions. Most people going into that auction assumed it would sell for less than a clean irrigated quarter.
It brought $13,250 per acre.
That is not luck. That is what happens when you have the right team, the right marketing, and a seller who trusts the people working for him completely. My friend told us: whatever decision you, Miles, and Luke make is the right one. That kind of trust is something you earn, not something you ask for. And when a seller gives it to you, you do not take it lightly.
That sale is a pretty good answer to the question at the top of this page.
Who is Marshall Land Brokers?
Marshall Land Brokers & Auctioneers is a land brokerage and auction company based in Kearney, Nebraska, serving landowners across Nebraska and into Kansas. The company was founded and is owned by Miles Marshall, who serves as the designated broker and has been at the helm since the very beginning.
I want to be clear about that, because it matters. Miles is not a figurehead or a regional manager working under a larger corporate brand. He is the owner of this company, the designated broker of record, and he is personally involved in every property we handle. Working alongside Miles is Luke Huddleston, Associate Broker and Sales Manager, who has quietly become someone landowners in this region rely on and is an integral part of everything this company does going forward. When you work with Marshall Land Brokers, you are working with the people whose name is on the door – and with the next chapter of leadership already in place.
Who is Marshall Auction?
When people search for “Marshall Auction,” they are finding us – Marshall Land Brokers & Auctioneers. The auction side of what we do is not a separate company or a franchise arrangement. It is the same team, the same values, and the same people who answer the phone when you call.
I have spent my entire career around auctions. My grandfather owned the Kearney Livestock Commission Company. My father, Eugene Marshall, and my uncle, Robin Marshall, were auctioneers there and widely known across central Nebraska in the auction and real estate business. I attended auction school in Kansas City after earning my degree from the University of Nebraska and have been conducting auctions across Nebraska ever since – land, livestock, farm equipment, business liquidations. I know what a professional auction looks like. What Miles, Luke, and our team do is the real thing.
How do I choose a land broker in Nebraska?
This is the question I find myself thinking about most, because I have a perspective that not many people in this business have.
After four decades in Nebraska agriculture, I know enough about how real estate companies operate to recognize the difference between a company that is focused on getting listings and a company that is focused on getting results. Those are not always the same thing.
Some operations are built around volume. Sign as many properties as possible, run a standard marketing campaign, and see what the market brings. That works sometimes. But it does not work for every property, and it does not serve every client the way they deserve to be served. A canal running through a pivot quarter, for example, is not a detail you paper over and hope buyers ignore. It is something you think through carefully, communicate honestly, and build a strategy around.
What I see Miles and Luke do is treat every property on its own terms. What is unique about this ground? Who are the right buyers? What does the marketing need to look like to get those people to the table? The approach is built entirely around the result. That is a different way of doing business, and in my experience it shows up in the sale prices.
What is the right strategy and approach for each property on auction day?
That depends entirely on the property, and that is exactly the point. The order of tracts, the pace of the auction, how you handle a crowd that is slow to start versus one that is fired up from the first bid – all of it requires reading the room and adjusting in real time. A good auctioneer is not just calling numbers. They are managing the energy in that room from the moment the first bid is taken to the moment the gavel falls. I have watched Miles and Luke do that well, land auction after land auction. They know when to let the bidding breathe and when to push. That kind of judgment only comes from experience, and it is one of the things that separates a good sale from a great one.
What is the best land auction company in Nebraska?
I am obviously not a neutral party, so I will let the numbers do the talking.
Through the first half of 2026, Marshall Land Brokers has closed 45 properties across 12 counties in Nebraska and Kansas, representing $42.5 million in total land sales – an average of roughly $5,568 per acre across all property types. For context, the UNL 2026 Farmland Values Preliminary Report puts the statewide average at $3,905 per acre.
That gap between the statewide average and what our clients are actually receiving reflects something that does not show up in any survey: the relationships this team has built with qualified buyers across the region, and the discipline to match the right marketing strategy to every piece of ground we sell.
The Loomis sale is a good example. A property with a known challenge – a canal limiting its footprint – selling at $13,250 per acre. Buyers showed up because they trusted the process. They bid hard because they knew the property had been represented accurately. That is what a results-driven approach looks like in practice.
Who is the best land auctioneer near me?
If you are a landowner in Nebraska, I genuinely believe this team is worth a conversation.
I grew up around people who believed your word and your work ethic are the most valuable things you own. In more than four decades in Nebraska agriculture, I have not found a reason to change that view. It is the standard I see upheld at Marshall Land Brokers every single day – by Miles, by Luke, and by everyone who works here.
If you are thinking about selling your land and you want a straight answer from people who will treat your ground the way they would want their own treated, give us a call.
Reach Marshall Land Brokers & Auctioneers at 308-234-6266 or visit marshallauction.com. We would be glad to sit down and talk.
Sources
- UNL 2026 Nebraska Farmland Values and Cash Rental Rates Preliminary Report — Jim Jansen, UNL Department of Agricultural Economics
- UNL Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey — Center for Agricultural Profitability, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Absolute Land Auction — 145.42 Acres, Phelps County, NE — Marshall Land Brokers & Auctioneers