|
|
|
|
|
|
Link to the University of Nebraska's
|
|
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture in Scottsbluff/Gering: 2002 Census of Agriculture: Comparison of Nebraska to Area States
Nebraska has 55,000 farms and ranches, with the average operation consisting of 855 acres. Average net income has ranged from $28,000 to $44,000 during the last five years. One of every four Nebraska jobs is connected to agriculture, and production agriculture contributes $9.5 billion to Nebraska's economy each year.
Panhandle agriculture is a diverse composition of livestock and crop production. Over 4,500 farm proprietors manage almost 12,000 square miles and generate over $700 million in annual gross sales. Nebraska is located in the mid-section of the United States and is part of the Great Plains. Hot summers and cold winters, variability in rainfall distribution, fluctuating length of growing season and frequent wind typify Nebraska's climate. Elevation ranges from 5,400 ft. in the southwest corner to 3,600 ft. in the North Platte Valley. This area is classified as semi-arid, with annual precipitation ranging from 12 to 17 inches. Reservoirs along the North Platte River in Wyoming capture snowmelt that is delivered to over 325,000 acres of ditch-irrigated land in the valley. An additional 325,000 acres are irrigated with ground water.
Nebraska is a water-rich state. Nearly two billion acre-feet of good quality groundwater, most of it easily accessible, is stored in porous rock beds called aquifers, which are located underneath 59% of the state's 49-million acre land surface. In addition, Nebraska has an average of 90 million acre-feet of annual precipitation and an annual surface-water inflow of roughly two million acre-feet. About eight million acre-feet of surface water flows to other states, making Nebraska a donor of approximately six million acre-feet more than flows into its borders.
Groundwater irrigation began in the 1920s. At the beginning of 1975, nearly 46,000 registered irrigation wells and about 5,000 surface water rights supplied about four million acres. Currently about 78,000 registered wells and 5,000 surface water rights supply water to about 8.1 million acres of crop and pastureland.
The Panhandle's land and water resources are key to the region's agricultural productivity. Irrigation, currently used on about 8.1 million acres, provides a buffer against drought, a serious recurrent problem for the Great Plains. A careful selection of adaptable crops, improved varieties, use of strip and contour cropping, stubble mulching, deferred grazing and other proven practices enable Nebraska farmers to cope with climatic uncertainty and supply domestic and international markets with top quality products.
The primary irrigated crops in the Panhandle include corn and alfalfa. Corn is produced on 210,000 acres and generates annual gross sales in excess of $70 million. Most of this corn is fed to beef cattle, although a small ethanol facility in Torrington, Wyoming is also a user. Alfalfa hay is marketed regionally, with a large share going to the dairy industry in the Colorado Front Range area.
The Panhandle is somewhat unique to Nebraska in that we produce a number of specialty crops. Sugarbeets , for example, are grown on 60-70,000 acres of Panhandle cropland. The beet crop typically generates $70-80 million in gross revenue.
Sugarbeets are processed by Western Sugar, with factories in Scottsbluff and Bayard, as well as Holly Sugar in Torrington, Wyoming. In addition to sugar extraction, the Scottsbluff facility includes an extensive packaging facility and a molasses desugarization plant. The gross value of sugar processing to the Panhandle exceeds $80 million per year and provides over 500 full and part-time jobs.
Dry, edible beans are also a unique crop to western Nebraska. Acreages range from 150,000 to 200,000, with the Panhandle representing over 70% of the state's production. Nebraska ranks first in the U.S. in Great Northern bean production and third in Pinto beans. Dry, edible bean production is valued at over $70 million annually.
Our dry, edible beans are cleaned and packaged by four major bean processors in the Panhandle. Bean processing accounts for approximately $80 million in gross sales. Foreign markets are vital in marketing Nebraska's dry beans. Over one-half of the Great Northerns and up to one-third of the Pintos are exported, often to poor countries suffering political strife.
A new crop to the Panhandle is chicory , a root crop similar to sugarbeets. Chicory contains inulin, a carbohydrate with beneficial health and nutritional effects. In 2001, approximately 1,000 acres of chicory were grown. The crop was processed by U.S. Chicory of Scottsbluff, the first commercial chicory drying operation in the Americas.
Panhandle potato production is relatively small (10,000 acres) compared to other specialty crops, but it is valued at over $20 million annually.
Over two million Panhandle acres are devoted to dryland (rain-fed) agriculture. Given the semi-arid climate, most dryland farmers practice a two or three year crop rotation, allowing for a fallow period to conserve moisture. The predominant dryland areas are in the southern Panhandle, with some acreage in the central and northern regions.
Nebraska soils were produced by interaction of climate and biological organisms on parent materials as modified by local topography, drainage and exposure to weathering. Two types of geologic deposits are parent materials for the vast majority of soils in the state. Wind-blown sand is a parent material in the Sandhills grazing region that occupies much of the north-central part of the state. Elsewhere, most soils have formed in wind-blown silt and clay or loess. Typography and subsequent soil drainage have greatly influenced development of soil properties in local areas.
Hard, red winter wheat dominates the dryland cropping system in the Panhandle, with more than 800,000 acres in production. One-third of Nebraska's wheat production occurs in the Panhandle and is valued at $60 million.
Proso millet is produced on about 60,000 acres. Proso is used for bird seed and export markets. Sunflowers are produced on about 100,000 acres and are used for confection, oil production and birdseed. Much of our proso and sunflower production goes to PennPak III, a birdseed processing and packaging facility in Sidney, Nebraska.
Recent challenges in production agriculture have forced many farmers to utilize other emerging crops. Garbanzo beans, turfgrass seed and white wheat are a few examples of crops being grown in the Panhandle on a limited basis. Panhandle agriculture is an important, diverse and interesting segment of our economy.
The combination of crop and livestock production, with extensive processing facilities provides much of the economic and employment base for the region. Efforts to diversify our economy are important. Land and people, however, will continue to be our primary resources.
The livestock industry accounts for over half of the gross agricultural sales in the Panhandle. Over 65% of Panhandle land is available for grazing and supports over 250,000 beef cows. Panhandle feedlots finish approximately 700,000 head annually.
"Nebraska's beef industry is an aggressive, dynamic business and the largest single industry in the state. Productive range and cropland support over 2 million cattle on feed daily and 1.9 million cows and heifers which calve annually. The abundant supply of water, plus generous feed and grain supplies, has supported the expansion of the state's feedlot industry to Nebraska's present level. Today, one in every five steaks purchased in the U.S. comes from Nebraska. Yearly cash receipts from cattle and calves total over $4.5 billion. Nebraska is the number one marketer of red meat in the U.S. and has over 7-1/2 million head of cattle processed annually.
Nebraska's prominence in the nation's cattle industry is due, in part, to the rich natural resources in the state and to the willingness of the producers and cattle feeding operators to adapt to change. Cattle feeders in Nebraska are responsive to the demands of both their feeding customers and consumers, domestically and internationally. By using the latest in environmentally sound productive management practices, least-cost rations, Beef Quality Assurance (BQA), computerized record keeping, and value-based marketing, Nebraska's cattle feeders provide their customers and packers with cattle to meet industry and consumer demands." (Nebraska Department of Agriculture - www.agr.state.ne.us) From the Nebraska State Data Center: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Center for Public Affairs Research 2002 Census of Agriculture: Comparison of Nebraska to Area States How does Nebraska compare to other nearby states regarding the agricultural industry?
A Comparison of Nebraska to States in the West North Central Region Compiled by the Center for Public Affairs Research, University of Nebraska at Omaha
The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The Census is a comprehensive source of uniform data regarding a broad spectrum of agricultural topics. The Census attempts to collect information about every farm and ranch in the United States. Report forms for the 2002 Census of Agriculture were mailed to all known and potential farm and ranch operators. They selected those states close in proximity and most similar to Nebraska agriculture for analysis. States compared include those comprising the West North Central Region of the United States (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota). They did not select Colorado and Wyoming even though they border Nebraska to the west, given the wide disparity in cropland acres, acres of rugged terrain (mountains), and land in the National Parks System.
Key Findings:
Several notable items when comparing Nebraska to other states in the West North Central Region were identified. Favorable Items for Nebraska:
Comparing Agriculture within the States in the West North Central Region:
Agriculture within the seven states in the West North Central Region differs due to the various types of farm operations or products sold, population levels or the location of metropolitan areas, and the various geographic landscapes.
For example, the number of farm operations in eastern states (Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota) is considerably larger than in western states (Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota). Operations totaled more than 100,000 in Missouri in 2002 compared to just over 30,000 in North Dakota.
Nebraska had the fifth highest total, with just fewer than 50,000 operations. In addition, the average farm size is noticeably smaller in eastern states.
Average sizes range from under 300 acres in Missouri to more than 1,300 acres in South Dakota.
Nebraska was third highest at 930 acres. In general, as a states population increases, the number of farm operations increases and the average farm size declines.
While Missouri had the highest number of total operations, Iowa had the most operations in which the principal operator’s primary occupation is farming. Missouri is a close second, Nebraska is fifth, and North Dakota has the fewest.
Nebraska had the highest percentage of operations whose principal operator’s primary occupation was farming at 73.0 percent.
North and South Dakota also have relatively high percentages, while more populated areas such as Missouri and Minnesota have relatively lower percentages.
This could reflect that:
1) more populated areas likely have more off-farm employment available, particularly more “high-paying” jobs; and
2) more populated areas might have more residents who live on a small number of acres (acreages) and still classify as meeting the definition of a farm ($1,000 or more in sales and/or government payments).
Regardless, these figures show that Nebraska leads in the percentage of principal operators who consider farming their primary occupation and has relatively few part-time farmers. Sales Value:
Analyzing the value of sales generated by farm operations illustrates more about agriculture in these states. The level of sales for a particular year are dependent upon commodity prices during that year.
Nebraska has the lowest percentage of farms in the low sales group and the highest percentage in the high sales group of $100,000 or more.
Nebraska is the only state to have more operations in the $100,000 or more sales category than in the less than $10,000 sales category.
Calculated as a ratio, Nebraska’s value is 95 farms in the low sales group for every 100 farms in the high sales group. Ratios for South Dakota, Iowa, and North Dakota ranged from 105 to 133. Principal Operator Characteristics:
The average age of the principal operator ranges from 52.9 years in Minnesota to 56.0 years in Kansas and Missouri.
Nebraska has the third youngest average age at 53.9 years.
Further analysis on all operators shows that Nebraska has a relatively large percentage of operators under the age of 35. More than 10 percent of Nebraska operators are in this age category, second only to South Dakota’s 11.1 percent.
Nebraska has the third lowest percentage of operators who are 65 or older.
Across the region, roughly 3 out of 4 principal operators live on the farm they operate. Values range from a low of 70.7 percent of principal operators living on the farm in North Dakota to a high of 82.9 percent in Minnesota.
For Nebraska, 76.2 percent of principal operators live on the farm, near the regional average.
Nebraska does have a relatively high percentage of principal operators who have been with their farms 10 or more years. Eight of ten Nebraska principal operators have been associated with their farms for this duration, second only to North Dakota’s 81.1 percent.
This shows stability within Nebraska agriculture and the commitment and ability to farm over a number of years.
This figure also shows relatively few new or newer operators who by definition would have been associated with a farm a short time. However, if younger respondents grew up on the farm they now operate, they may have listed being associated with the farm 10 or more years, even if they were temporarily away from the farm working at a different job or attending college. Conclusion:
When compared to other area states, Nebraska witnessed some favorable changes since the last Census of Agriculture was completed in 1997, including a relatively low operator age and relatively small increases in operator age, a relatively high level of principal operators farming as a primary occupation, and an increase in the number of farms having 1,000 or more acres compared to other states declining in this area.
What can be done to continue favorable trends?
Several items have already been accomplished since the 2002 Census of Agriculture occurred.
The 2002 Farm Bill has provided substantial government support to farm operations. This aid has helped to improve the financial stability of many operations, which should help slow the decline in farm operations.
Agricultural commodity prices have rebounded and in some instances soared to levels not seen in the recent past. The rise has not only improved the bottom line for many operations but the psychological outlook for the future as well.
Programs emphasizing effective marketing of products to lock in profitable returns will help reduce the fluctuation in agricultural returns for most operations.
Financial incentives could make it more attractive for young operators to farm and reduce the need for off-farm employment. This could lead to a dynamic situation, whereby improvements in one area may help better other aspects within agriculture.
While the long-term trends in declining operations and increasing farm sizes have not appeared to be cyclical, it appears that the agriculture situation may be poised to improve. Such an improvement would be welcomed by residents across Nebraska and the entire West North Central Region. (Additional information regarding the Census of Agriculture and data profiles for the nation, states, and counties can be accessed at http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/. )
Copyright © 2002-2003 Twin Cities Development Association, Inc. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
