Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Nebraska (2026 Guide)

Cedar has walked out of the draw and across a pasture that used to carry cows, or the acreage you just bought outside Lincoln has elm and brush where the house should sit. Before you call anyone, you want a figure. Our crew clears Nebraska ground like this for $1,500 to $4,500 an acre, the same bands we publish for Plattsmouth and Cass County.

Use the band to plan. Our Nebraska work runs through our Plattsmouth market on the Missouri River bluffs, and land elsewhere in the state is still worth asking about. When you are ready, tell us where your land is, and our crew will contact you to talk through the property, the access and the clearing you have in mind.

At a glance:

• Cedar mostly under 10 feet, fence rows, shelterbelt edges: $1,500 to $2,500 an acre
• Closed cedar and elm stands mulched where they grow: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre
• Big cedar or river timber cleared to a finish agreed in the quote: up to $4,500 an acre
• Smallest job: a minimum charge of about $1,500, where small jobs start rather than a fee added on top
• Burning piles: state law forbids fires for clearing land unless your local fire chief waives the ban with a permit (fee up to $10), and you tell the chief before lighting.
• An acre or more disturbed: state construction stormwater coverage, with the Notice of Intent filed at least 7 days before work starts.

Want to talk about your ground? Request a free quote for your Nebraska ground. Our crew will be in touch to discuss the job and how tall the biggest cedars have grown.

How Much Does It Cost to Clear an Acre in Nebraska?

What sets the price is what is standing on the ground, so that is how our bands are laid out:

What is on the land	Cut Brush price per acre	What it looks like
Young redcedar, fence rows, shelterbelt edges	$1,500 – $2,500	Trees mostly under 10 feet, grass still showing between them
Closed cedar, Siberian elm and brush, mulched in place	$1,500 – $4,000	Crowns touching, grass shaded out, a bluff side you cannot walk upright
Mature cedar or river timber cleared to an agreed finish	$1,500 – $4,500	Trunks too big for a mulching head, creek bottoms, an old farmstead grove
House site, drive and utility path	$1,500 – $4,500 per acre equivalent	A building envelope carved out of trees on acreage near Omaha, Lincoln or Kearney

Travel and your property set the quote.

What the price includes. Forestry mulching grinds brush, small trees and stumps into mulch on site, with stumps flush with the ground and nothing hauled away. Full stump removal below grade and cut-and-haul for very large trees are discussed and priced in the quote. Grading and build pads are not part of our price: we clear to the ground so a builder can grade.

Where these numbers come from. They are the four bands on our Plattsmouth pricing page. An acre can land anywhere in its band, depending on what grows there and how the ground lies. $1,500 is the minimum charge for a job, where small jobs start rather than a fee added on top, since hauling a tracked machine to your gate costs the same for half an acre as for twenty.

Heavy timber sits at the top of the band because it takes the most machine time, and that is why digging stumps out below grade or hauling very large trees is priced separately in the quote.

What Changes the Price of a Nebraska Clearing Job

How tall the cedar has grown. Height is the first thing we ask about on cedar ground, because it decides the tool. Redcedar control falls into three height classes. Under 2 feet, fire, mowing, goats or a broadcast spray all work. From 2 to 10 feet, the choice narrows to cutting or spraying tree by tree. Past 10 feet, cutting is the cheapest treatment left. Most of the middle class fits our lowest band; a stand of 20-foot trees does not.

How dense the cedar has grown. Scattered trees with grass between them are lighter work than a stand whose crowns meet. Our eastern redcedar removal guide explains which trees to clear, which to keep and how to watch for seedlings afterward.

Whether the stumps need to come out. Eastern redcedar is a non-sprouter: cut it below the lowest branches and it does not regrow. So on most grazing ground, a flush cut finishes the tree, and paying to dig stumps only makes sense where a building, a drive or a hay field needs smooth ground.

Whether a cost share applies. The Nebraska Forest Service’s financial assistance programs reimburse up to 75 percent of tree removal, piling and burning through Forest Fuels Treatment, with per-acre caps, but only in the Pine Ridge, the Niobrara Valley, the Loess Canyons and northeast Nebraska. Its Firewise defensible space program pays up to 75 percent statewide for clearing flammable growth around homes. Each program sets its own rules for what must be left standing, so ask the Forest Service before any tree comes down.

Pro tip: Flag the cedars you plan to keep before anyone quotes the job. A machine works around keepers more slowly than through open stand, so marking them first keeps the quote accurate, and any cost-share program you apply to will want to see the same plan.

Where the wood ends up. A mulched stand leaves a chip mat on the ground and nothing to burn. A pile means a fire chief’s permit and a calm day; hauling means trucks and the miles to wherever the wood is taken. In the Panhandle pine country the sums change, because the state fuels program pays toward piling and pile burning there.

Land Clearing Costs Across Nebraska

The eastern river bluffs. From Blair down through Omaha to Nebraska City, the uplands are deep loess of the Monona series, on slopes as steep as 40 percent. Cedar advances faster in this corner than in the Sandhills, so stands on the bluff sides tend to be thick. On these jobs the grade sets our pace more than the trees do.

The Loess Canyons and central breaks. About 338,000 acres south of North Platte, on Coly loess with side slopes up to 60 percent. Here machine cutting alone let cedar return quickly and in greater numbers, so landowners now rely on prescribed fire. Machine work in the canyons is for trees too big for a burn to kill, and for the prep work members do before a fire.

The Platte Valley. Kearney, Grand Island and Columbus sit on Hord terrace soils with slopes under 1 percent, nearly all cropped and much of it irrigated. Ground this flat clears quickly, so the bill follows the timber: river timber, old farmstead groves, tree rows between fields. Siberian elm seeds into stream banks and pasture here; mature trees are best girdled in late spring and given a year or two to die. Saltcedar is a state noxious weed, so if it is in your stand, call the county weed authority first.

The Sandhills. More than 5 million acres of Valentine sand, from flat valleys to dune faces as steep as 80 percent, nearly all of it grazed. Cedar spreads more slowly here, so most jobs are windbreaks and scattered trees rather than closed stands. Soft tracks and long ranch trails move the price more than the trees.

The Pine Ridge, Wildcat Hills and Niobrara Valley. Ponderosa country around Harrison, Crawford and Chadron, and south to the Wildcat Hills. Work here is thinning and ladder fuel removal, which sits in our understory band, and the Nebraska Forest Service’s Hazardous Fuels Treatment program reimburses up to 100 percent of that thinning in the Pine Ridge.

Land Clearing Around Plattsmouth and Cass County

Our Nebraska market is Plattsmouth, where the Platte runs into the Missouri. It covers Cass County, Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista and Gretna in Sarpy County, Ralston and Bennington, Nebraska City and Syracuse, and Glenwood and Council Bluffs across the river in Iowa. This is the loess bluff country described above, where cedar spread out of the fire-protected slopes into the pastures and the grade sets the pace of the work. The Plattsmouth land clearing page covers the towns, the bluffs and the local floodplain permits, the Plattsmouth pricing page lists the four per-acre bands, and our eastern redcedar removal guide sets out the clearing plan.

Burn Permits and Stormwater in Nebraska

Burning. Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-520.01 bans bonfires, outdoor rubbish fires and fires for clearing land statewide. The exception is a waiver: the local fire chief can issue a permit naming the landowner, place, date, hours, material, the person in charge and the acreage. The department may charge up to $10, and whoever burns must notify the chief before starting.

Stormwater. The Department of Water, Energy, and Environment’s construction stormwater general permit covers disturbance of one acre or more, and it counts a change to vegetative cover as disturbance. The Notice of Intent goes in at least 7 days ahead, with a pollution prevention plan and a Game and Parks environmental review. We never file permits; that stays with the owner or builder, and grading after clearing is for your dirt contractor.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to clear an acre of cedar trees in Nebraska?

Budget $1,500 to $2,500 an acre where most trees are under 10 feet, and up to $4,000 where a closed stand is mulched in place. Clearing mature cedar to an agreed finish can reach $4,500. Those are the bands on our Plattsmouth pricing page.

Can I burn cedar piles in Nebraska?

Only with a waiver permit from your local fire chief, because state law bans fires for clearing land otherwise. Tell the chief before you light. Mulching the trees leaves nothing to burn.

Will the Nebraska Forest Service help pay for cedar removal?

In some regions. Its Forest Fuels Treatment program reimburses up to 75 percent of tree removal, piling and burning, with per-acre caps, in the Pine Ridge, Niobrara Valley, Loess Canyons and northeast Nebraska, and its Firewise program pays up to 75 percent statewide for defensible space around homes. Check the Forest Service’s current list before work starts.

Does cedar grow back after it is cut?

Not from the stump, if the cut is below the lowest branches. New seedlings will still arrive from birds and nearby seed trees, which is why canyon ranchers follow machine work with prescribed fire.

Do I need a permit to clear land in Nebraska?

Clearing that disturbs an acre or more needs state construction stormwater coverage, filed at least 7 days ahead. Burning the debris needs the fire chief’s permit. Your city or county may add rules of its own.

Get a Land Clearing Quote for Your Nebraska Acreage

When our crew calls, we will talk through the tallest cedars, the thickest patch and the way in (gate, pasture trail, sand road, creek crossing), which trees stay, and the finish you want: open grass, a mulched floor under the keepers, or a site handed to your dirt contractor.

Request a free quote for your Nebraska land and our crew will contact you to go over the acreage and the finish you want.

Land that runs across the Missouri into Iowa is covered in our Iowa guide.

Sources

• Nebraska Legislature, Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-520.01, open burning
• Nebraska Forest Service, Financial Assistance and Grants, read 16 October 2026