 |
| Duane A. Lienemann UNL Extension Educator |
That should not be a surprise to the people living in “God’s Country”. Agriculture is everywhere! Agriculture is important to the economy not only in the 3rd Congressional District, but to our state and to the nation. Today's farmers grow more food and do it with fewer resources than any other time in history. Our farmers do a wonderful job!!
It is no secret that livestock is one of the largest contributors to that honor. The latest USDA statistics show that Nebraska is again for the second straight year, the leading state in the entire United States in cattle feeding. Records show that Nebraska had 2.55 million cattle on feed in feedlots on January 1, 2015. That was ahead of Texas' 2.51 million and Kansas' 2.18 million. Of course we also have to thank our crop producers for that honor. Nebraska has become the leader in cattle feeding because of the benefit of having corn and ethanol producers nearby to help make food for the animals. It may interest you that to help promote the industry, the state of Nebraska has put together an online directory of cattle feeders. You can find the list at: http://tinyurl.com/NEcattlefeeders .
Let’s take a further look at the crop production in Nebraska, the lion’s share of which of course is produced in the 3td Congressional District. According to the 2014 Crop Production Summary, the amount of principal cropland planted in Nebraska last year was 19.5 million acres, of which corn and soybeans comprised 14.7 million. Of that 19.5 million acres, 19.1 million was harvested. Last year, Nebraska corn farmers harvested 8.95 million acres for a total production of 1.6 billion bushels. Yields averaged 179 bushels per acre. Corn production was down last year compared to 2013, as farmers harvested 600,000 acres less, but a record yield helped close the production gap from 2013 by 11 million bushels.
Nebraska was the nation’s third-largest corn producer behind Iowa and Illinois, which produced 2.37 billion bushels and 2.35 billion bushels respectively. It was also a good year for soybeans in Nebraska as farmers harvested 5.35 million acres, which produced an average yield of 54 bushels per acre for a record production of 288.9 million bushels. Nebraska was the nation’s fifth-largest soybean producer behind Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota. Hay production in Nebraska in 2014 was 6.03 million tons, which was up 1.19 million tons from 2013. State farmers harvested 2.58 million acres, which averaged 2.34 tons per acre, which was up from 1.97 tons per acre in 2013.
Wheat production in Nebraska last year was 71 million bushels, which was up 36 million bushels from 2013. State farmers seeded 1.55 million acres in the fall of 2013 for harvest in 2014 with an average yield of 49 bushels per acre, which was up 14 bushels per acre from the previous year. During the fall of last year, the USDA reported that state farmers seeded 1.7 million acres for winter wheat, which was up 150,000 acres from the previous year. It was also a good year for hay, sorghum and wheat production in Nebraska, which were all up from the previous year, according to the USDA. Last year, state farmers planted 210,000 acres of sorghum and harvested 160,000 acres with an average yield of 82 bushels per acre, which was up 15 bushels from 2013. Total Nebraska sorghum production last year was 13.12 million bushels, which was an increase of 3.3 million bushels. That however is only the half of it. There is more…..all affecting the prices and more.
The USDA also reported that Nebraska corn stocks in all positions at the end of 2014 totaled 1.29 billion bushels, up 3 percent from 2013. Of the total, 780 million bushels are stored on farms, up 3 percent from a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at a record high 510 million bushels, are up 4 percent from last year. Soybeans stored in all positions in Nebraska totaled 209 million bushels, up 27 percent from last year. On-farm stocks of 65 million bushels are up 67 percent from a year ago, and off-farm stocks, at 144 million bushels, are up 15 percent from 2013.
Nebraska wheat stored in all positions totaled 44.6 million bushels, up 23 percent from a year ago. On-farm stocks of 3.6 million bushels are up 24 percent from 2013, and off-farm stocks of 41 million bushels are up 23 percent from last year. Sorghum stored in all positions totaled 9.45 million bushels, up 36 percent from 2013. On-farm stocks of 2.2 million are up 91 percent and off-farm holdings of 7.25 million are up 25 percent from last year. Hay stocks on Nebraska farms totaled 4.6 million tons on Dec. 1, up 21 percent from a year earlier. Grain storage capacity in Nebraska totaled 2.08 billion bushels, up 41.8 million bushels from Dec. 1, 2013. Total grain storage capacity comprised 1.18 billion bushels of on-farm storage, up 30 million bushels from last year, and 897 million bushels of off-farm storage, up 11.8 million bushels from 2013.
Is it no wonder that there is pressure on our crop prices and why selecting options for the Farm Bill is so hard? How can you possibly read the future for crops or prices for the next five years? In my opinion it is almost sadistic to put that kind of decision on the very people who are working so hard to supply what we need to feed the world. Agriculture is critical to we here in the Heartland, but even more so for the global community. I think all of this has taken the fun out of farming!
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: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home
No comments:
Post a Comment