Straight from the Horses Mouth

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County December 30, 2010 Edition

Last week I took a look at the US Census and in the impact on agriculture, or in particular what the Census showed about agriculture? There was so much more that I wanted to share so I think I will kick off the New Year with a little more about what the 2010 Census showed as we enter 2011. I gave some generalities in last week’s article. Let’s look as some specifics this week. Last week the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the 2010 Census showed the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538, a 9.7 percent increase over the 2000 population. That means there are approximately 87.4 Americans for every square mile of this great country. And, the Census Bureau estimates, there is a net gain of one person every 13 seconds. Of course we don’t see that here, but it is what it is. For comparison, America’s population in 1910 was 92 million, about 26 people per square mile. By 1960 there were 179 million of us, about 50 people per square mile. It is not a surprise that California remains our most populous state with 37 million people, but Texas saw the greatest increase in population over the past decade. Texas checked in with 25 million residents, an increase of about 4.3 million since the last census. You may have noticed that those two states are sparring right now over political areas as they increase their Congressional representation – one affect of the census. Unfortunately, the census data also revealed some alarming data for rural America. Specifically, the majority of the nation’s sparsely populated rural counties saw continued decline in residents over the last decade. The rural counties that did show population gains, such as the Mountain West, are most likely the result of an influx of retirees. With the weather we are now experiencing perhaps I should try to convince my wife that it would be good for us become “snowbirds” too. The census indicated that there are roughly 1,400 counties with fewer than 20,000 people in the United States and they are mostly concentrated from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountain region, these counties constitute half the United States by area. For you that are geographically challenged that is pretty much where we live - right in the middle of the West Central Region of America. Keep this area in mind as I continue my discussion of this topic. It is no secret that we are losing people from our rural counties. I know that I have seen a big decline since I first moved to Webster County in South Central Nebraska in 1973 as an ag teacher. Not only are there fewer farms, fewer families and thus fewer kids, but also there has been a big affect on small business. Jobs and opportunity, of course, are the primary reasons people are fleeing rural America. I think this will have far-reaching impact on all of us living in this area. There are probably some big changes in the future, some brought on by these demographics and of course some brought on by the economy and resulting budget cuts. I don’t think we will see the kind of rural America or more important to us - rural Nebraska that we once knew. That being said, let’s look at some things that are bad and good. On the “downer side”, according to data from the Census Bureau, fully two-thirds of America’s rural counties had poverty rates above the national average in 2009. The national average poverty rate for all of America was 14.4 percent. Nationally, 42.4 million people fell below the poverty line in 2009, and 8.3 million of them (about 20 percent) lived in rural counties. The “upper” side of this discussion is that if you look at the map put out by the Census Bureau it doesn’t look that bad for the very region I described above. If you have access to a computer and internet, there is some pretty good reading and a map showing the poverty counties in the US. Please go to http://www.dailyyonder.com/poverty-highest-rural-america-rising-recession/2010/12/21/3098 . This site illustrates poverty levels across America. Thankfully, the region in which we live has many counties with below average poverty levels and are actually labeled as prosperous counties – those with fewer than 10 percent of the population below the poverty threshold. Now, why is that? There’s a wide swath of counties identified on the map from the northern Panhandle of Texas, through western Oklahoma, western Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Now here is the theory that I subscribe to---- For the most part doesn’t that coincide with what we like to call cattle country? At least it includes the majority of the nation’s cow/calf operations, dairy, cattle feedlots and the majority of the nation’s beef packing industry. I am not alone in this view and my unscientific observation indicated that this map provides strong evidence of the beef industry’s significant contribution to the economic health of rural America. Beef is the state's single largest industry and the engine that powers our state's economy. The multiplied impact of the over $6.5 billion in cattle sales each year is $12-13 billion. This is likely to be even better in 2011-13. Cattle, or for that matter livestock-related employment, means income for businesses up and down Main Street in towns and cities across the state. In short, the beef and livestock industry has an unmistakable impact on other economies in Nebraska. This underscores the impact that livestock production has on virtually everyone in the state. We all need to understand that as agriculture goes, so goes Main Street. Not only should producers be advocates for agriculture and particularly animal agriculture, but all of us who live in Nebraska or for that matter the people who live in the very area that is a bright spot on the Census map for America’s economy. Here’s wishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year! The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home