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Nebraska Farm Income
Nebraska farm income could see a significant boost this year, but the outlook depends on the type of operation. Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist Brad Lubben says cattle producers are benefiting from record profits, while many crop producers continue to face tight margins and high production costs.
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[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac. Nebraska Farm income is expected to have record highs this year, but that statement could be misleading depending upon what you raise on your operation. Projections show overall income should increase by 12% to near $10 billion mainly due to a continued strong cattle market. Crop producers on the other hand, are struggling due to many factors including record production expenses.
Nebraska extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubben, talks about record returns for cattle producers, as well as the struggles for crop farmers, on part one of this examination of farm income projections in Nebraska.
[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
In aggregate.
The NeFarm income projections from Nebraska look like they will reach a record that is near $10 billion.
Uh, that would be substantially above the previous record of 2023.
It's substantially above the outcome last year in 2025.
And so we're talking about a real strong aggregate farm income scenario for the state.
Even as we know, we're concerned about headlines and issues and questions about the strength of the egg sector.
Let's clarify for sure that any aggregate estimate like the state farm income estimates don't accurately capture what's happening in a specific sector or commodity, or region, or certainly any particular farm operation.
So there's always uh, distribution around the mean.
There's always some variability going on there.
But what we can see in the story is fundamentally what I described as a tale of 2 farms, or maybe more specifically a tale of a farm and a ranch, because there are 2 very different sectors going very different directions, that are the principal drivers behind the farm economic outlook that we see both in aggregate and the headlines that we read about on a regular basis here.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Brad focuses in on the struggles for crop producers, talks about some possible positive indicators in the coming months.
[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
We see if we back up to 2022 or 2023. 2022 as a record farm income year in the United States, Nebraska actually struggled a bit in 2022 with drought conditions and some declines in production.
So 2023 is actually when Nebraska had previously set a record.
But what we know fundamentally from that period of time is that crop economics have been deteriorating continuously over that time period.
Lower commodity prices, as we came off of some record price levels and as we sort of refreshed the available supplies, We saw lower commodity prices over time.
We saw continued inflationary pressure on production costs, particularly some of the purchased inputs that we have in crop production, seed, fertilizer, chemicals, energy costs, et cetera.
So we saw erosion for the crop sector on both sides, lower revenues, higher cost, shrinking margins.
That has fundamentally been going downhill for the better part of 4 years.
The projection for 2026 is actually relatively stable with 2025.
So we hope that we see a turn in conditions here.
We know that there is more inflationary pressure on input cost even since this analysis was put together back in the early springtime period.
Fertilizer costs have been going up, seemingly nonstop.
That doesn't all translate into 2026 numbers because some of the 2026 fertilizer would have already been pre-purchased or or applied earlier.
But we know that pressure is there.
On the other hand, we also see some of the overall market uncertainty and inflationary pressure is translated into some increases in crop prices since the time of this analysis.
So there may be even a little bit of relief on the crop receipt side, but suffice to say, even if margins are relatively stable at the moment.
They're stable at a much smaller margin than they were just 4 years ago.
And that's the pressure we see on the crop side that translates into financial concerns, cash flow concerns, and economic challenges for producers.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
We'll focus more on this topic of farm income on future almanac programs. For Nebraska extension almanac. I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR media, and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
Mosquitos
Wet weather and high humidity create a perfect storm for mosquito activity. Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist Jody Green says eliminating standing water, using repellents, and wearing protective clothing can help reduce bites and keep mosquito populations under control around your home.
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[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.
Outdoor activities during the upcoming summer can be ruined by pesky mosquitoes.
Nebraska extension urban etymologist Jody Green says, the right clothing and smart use of repellents are a good defense against mosquitoes. But she also talks about a few common sense ideas for keeping the population under control around your house.
[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
Mosquitoes can breed in places you might not have thought of.
And she suggests scouting around your home for places that can collect water.
It's finally summertime, and that's a time for grilling out with friends, working in the garden, harvesting some of our food crops, and it's also a time for mosquitoes.
So let's talk about what we can do to protect ourselves from mosquito bites this summer.
Mosquitoes are semi aquatic, which means they spend most of their lifecycle in aquatic environments.
The female mosquito lays her eggs near or on the surface of the water, where her larvae and pupe will develop.
As adults, she is very mobile, and she feeds not only on blood, but males and female mosquitoes, we'll feed on nectar from flowering plants in the garden.
We want to protect ourselves from mosquito bites, because mosquitoes can transmit viruses, such as West Nile virus and St.
Louis encephalitis.
We can protect ourselves by, one, reducing the population of mosquitoes in our landscape and nearby areas, and, two, by preventing them from biting us, by wearing repellents.
One of the things we can do is dump standing water.
Mosquitoes can breed in the smallest amount of water which includes a planter, a tree hole, a bird batter, or some tires left in the yard.
When the water is left stagnant, mosquitoes can complete their life cycle, and as little as seven to 10 days, adult mosquitoes, on the other hand, can fly in from up to two miles away.
So even if they're not breeding in your yard, they can fly in from neighboring yards and from the vegetation that they rest in during the day.
Besides dumping, standing water, you can also treat the water that you can't be dumped with mosquito dunks or bacillus, thyringensis, Israeli enses.
This is a bacterial product that the larvae of mosquitoes eat that will wipe them out, but it is not toxic to wildlife, birds, fish, and humid.
Another thing you can do is avoid going outside during times that mosquitoes are most active in your area, like dawn and desk.
You can wear loose feeding clothing, a light color, so mosquitoes can land on you but not bite.
But again, that mosquito repellent, that's EPA approved, is recommended, so mosquitoes won't land on you.
Make sure to fix your screens, to your house, keep your doors closed when not new, so mosquitoes aren't flying into your home.
You can also run a fan when you're sitting outside on a porch, so mosquitoes have a hard time landing, and we'll go away.
One of the things you can do is share this information with your neighbors and your homeowners' association, because mosquito populations is a community wide problem.
And the more people dumping standing water and reducing their populations in their own yard will make the whole neighborhood a mosquito free place.
Keeping mosquitoes under control can be as simple as draining water that may have collected in plant containers, children's toys, low areas in the landscape, or tires that are around the area, wearing the proper clothing and using repellents, will also keep mosquitoes from biting you.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
Hail Damage and Crop Diseases
Early season hailstorms can leave crop fields looking rough. Nebraska Extension Instructor Talon Mues says don't rush to assess the damage, corn and soybeans often respond differently to early-season hail, and waiting several days can provide a much clearer picture of recovery potential.
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[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac. Nebraska farmers have had to deal with hail damage for most of their lives. Recent hail damage has affected crops, and extension instructor Talon Muse says, a dose of patience goes a long way when dealing with hail damage.
[Talon Muse, Nebraska Extension Instructor]
After a hailstorm or some other kind of large storm that's going to impact your crop, things can often look worse right after that storm hail occurs.
And really, so the patience is important because we want to see what that damage is really actually going to look like when that plant starts to regrow.
Um, and so patience is important, especially if it's cool and wet.
Those plants are gonna recover a lot slower.
Um, because a lot of times we see a lot of, um, damage to leaves and those kinds of things, but those aren't necessarily the most critical parts of that plant for sustaining um, growth.
Um, And so when we when we see a lot of that damage on the leaves and those kinds of things, they're maybe not as critical, especially here early in the season.
Um, and so seeing how those plants recover is gonna be really critical, especially when making uh, financial decisions. That could be really impactful to a farming operation.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Talon says this early in the season, hail events could trigger some disease issues with corn and soybeans.
[Talon Muse, Nebraska Extension Instructor]
I would say with corn, the main 2 that you're probably going to be looking for our bacterial leaf streak, um, which is a bacterial disease that can get in through wounds.
It occurs a lot in normally with corn.
Uh, and it's really not a huge factor when it comes to end of the season yield.
We have not really been able to show that bacterial leaf streak is causing severe yield loss or anything like that.
Um, so that will show up.
It'll make your plants look kind of clarotic kind of yellow, and it'll be in nice wavy streaks on your leaves.
Um, The other more of a concern is Goss's wilt, uh, and leaf blight.
And so this disease has 2 different kind of separate phases.
More commonly, we see the leaf blight symptoms that require wounds or entry points on those plants.
And so after hail, it is very common to see that more than you would on a normal year.
Um, and so what that happens is that it takes up a lot of that photosynthetic area of the plant, um, but more severely, if it happens early on in the season, it can move into the stock and become systemic.
And so we get a systemic wilt, um, that impacts the whole plant, which will really impact the grain fill stages, reproductive stages, um, that contribute to yield.
And so that's why it's important to be on the lookout for the Goss's wilt.
It appears as necrosis along injury wounds where it shows up.
Um, it will kind of appear almost kind of shiny as it's a bacteria that exudes uh, bacterial cells onto the leaf surface, and it'll occasionally have freckles.
So black freckling um, in kind of those brownish necrotic spots, uh, along leaves.
And then if you're seeing, obviously, any wilt symptoms, you can cut those stems or stalks of that corn in half and you'll even be able to see some of that necrosis in, um, maybe even some potential bacterial like exudation, um, from those if you're seeing wilt symptoms, uh, because it will move into the stalk and cause other severe issues there.
For soybeans, we don't have near as many issues with bacterial diseases.
Um, there are some diseases like uh, bacterial blight, those kinds of things will move into those wounded tissues, and those kinds of things.
Um, There may be some bacterial stem, uh, diseases, but nothing that's gonna really, that we found that really significantly contributes to yield loss, uh, down the road.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
For Nebraska Extension Almanac. I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
Reducing Pasture Fire Risk
Dry conditions across Nebraska are increasing concerns about pasture fires. Nebraska Extension Educators Ben Beckman and Ryan Benjamin say livestock producers should take steps now to reduce fire risk in pastures to help protect grazing resources during drought conditions.
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[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac. Nebraska's recent wildfires have devastated thousands of acres of pasture lands. Extension educators Ben Beckman and Ryan Benjamin talk about a few tips to help ranchers reduce the risk of fire on their past years. Ryan starts off the program with a simple tip to encourage producers to keep vehicles away from tall, dry grass.
[Ryan Benjamin, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Yeah, so I think one of the things that we were talking about before we started recording was kind of the fuel load out there, because we never really had any snow this winter, a lot of our grass fuels that typically would kind of be pushed down onto the ground is still standing vertical and very easily ignited.
So one of the big things that we talk about is vehicle traffic through the pasture and just it being so dry and still having that tall standing fuel, pretty easy to start a fire with vehicles.
And so one of the main themes of the, the article is talking about, you know, the different types of vehicles and considering what to drive.
Pickups tend to have lower exhaust systems and ones that get quite warm due to catalytic converters or region on some of these diesel pickups.
And so that exhaust system is very much hot enough to start a fire.
Um, we've seen it happen several times here where I'm at.
And so tending to use more side by sides and 4 wheelers can be helpful.
A lot of times, 4 wheelers and side by side, that exhaust system is, you know, tucked up a little higher in the body.
It's a little easier to avoid some of the tall fuels with a smaller vehicle.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Ben says another simple tip would be to have clear communication with your farm staff or younger family members about pastor driving and parking.
[Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Some of where this was coming down through too, is how can we make a comprehensive list?
So, you know, when you're having somebody on your operation that maybe isn't used to ranching, isn't used to working in dry conditions like this or hasn't done it before, or maybe is just, you know, a little bit younger in age and isn't thinking through everything quite as clearly just ready to go out and get work done, being able to have these conversations and have it all in one place.
And so, yeah, just talking through, like Ryan said, you know, tall grass, if it's dry, avoid that if possible, driving in areas where it's green, where we've got shorter vegetation, so we don't have that risk of things brushing up against hot equipment.
Where do we park on a place that's going to have shorter vegetation, green vegetation?
You know, if there's a bear patch, just some of those practices, you know, keeping an eye on a vehicle after we've driven a little bit, just being aware of, you know, how long we've driven sometimes even can make a big difference.
You know, if we just drove a mile to go check a pasture, that exhaust still has, you know, the risk of being hot, but it's not going to be as hot as if we drove that vehicle for 30 miles to, you know, town and back and then went to go check a pasture after that.
Just being aware of some of those things.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Ryan points out, basic tools available to respond to a fire situation can make all the difference in prevention.
[Ryan Benjamin, Nebraska Extension Educator]
One person with a shovel early on can do a whole lot of good and preventing a large fire.
The other thing that we really encourage producers to do is carry like one of those big silver, like 2.5 gallon water can fire extinguishers.
You can get them fairly affordable and they're reusable, which is the big reason that I like them.
You know, a lot of guys carry them on the tractor, on the Baylor or whatnot, but having one in your picket too is a good idea.
When a fire's small, it's pretty easy to, to get it stopped, but the bigger it gets the, the more it requires.
And so if something does start and you think it's something that's more than you can take care of, just call the fire department quick.
I'm on the volunteer fire department up here and and we would much rather you call us and turn us around if you get it under control than just having a huge incident and and spending a lot of time trying to catch up and and get that thing stopped.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from a recent beef watch podcast offered by Nebraska extension. To hear the entire interview, Go to beef.unl.edu, or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension.For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
Projections For Nebraska Farm Income
Nebraska farm income is projected to rise significantly this year with strong cattle prices driving much of the increase, while many crop producers continue to face tight margins and challenging economic conditions. Nebraska Extension Specialist Brad Lubben talks about Nebraska farm income projections for 2026.
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[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac. On a recent almanac program, extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin discussed how the overall farm income in Nebraska is projected to increase significantly, but that projection could send a mixed message to crop producers or cattle ranchers. He talked about the struggles in the crop market, and on today's program, He encouraged his caution to cattle producers who have been enjoying record market numbers in Nebraska.
[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
Cattle are about 90% of livestock receipts.
So it really is cattle driving the sector, which is supporting the overall ag economy at this point.
We also could point to over the last 4 years from 2022 forward.
Back in 2022, total crop receipts equaled total livestock receipts at about $16 billion.
Since that time, cropper seats had fallen to 12.
That's a 25% drop.
Livestock receipts had risen to 24.
A dramatic increase.
Livestock receipts in Nebraska are now double crop receipts.
They were equal 4 years ago.
Uh, That doesn't make everything easy for the cattlemen.
Obviously, there's always sort of the challenge of where are the profits in the cattle sector at processing or feeding or backgrounding or the cow calf operation.
Eventually, they're accruing back to some very good prices for feeder cattle and cal calf producers at the moment.
But then cow calf producers can't easily respond to that price signal and say, hey, it's a great time to, uh, it's a great time to grow the herd.
In part, because today's prices make replacement happer is more expensive too. And bowls and investment costs, more expensive, in order to produce a calf that doesn't come for that doesn't come to market for about 2 years or more, at a time when maybe prices will be softer than they are today.
So the economics of expansion aren't necessarily record prices mean we should grow the herd.
It's also true that even if we wanted to grow the herd.
Drought concerns have decreased some of our grazing supplies in the state, wildfire losses earlier this spring have certainly hurt that as well.
Um, You have a capacity constraint in how we can really grow the herd.
And so the economic decisions about growing a livestock sector even in the midst of record returns isn't that easy.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Brad talks about how government payments have played a significant role to the producer's bottom line.
[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
The government payment portion of the bottom line here is such a big deal this year.
We're talking in 2026 about projected government payments in Nebraska from all sources, about $3000000000 dollars.
That's $3000000000 of government payments in a bottom line of almost $10 billion.
The change from last year, net farm incomes up about a billion.
Government payments are up about one. 3 billion.
So it is more than the total change in net farm income, just from the government safety net here.
But dig into that safety in a little bit, and we understand both the support that's entered as well as the uncertainty that's in it.
We have the underlying commodity program supports.
Four years ago, they were minimal because we had higher prices and farm program payments that didn't fundamentally pay out.
In the coming year, they could be in excess of $700 million. Substantially higher than where we've been.
And so a dramatic increase in the safety net.
Well, that's what came about because of the 2025 budget reconciliation bill and the increases in government safety net support levels.
Those 1st immediately affected the 2025 crop program year, but the 2025 crop program year doesn't pay out until the fall of 2026.
And so we have this cash flow that shows up later this year.
But that increased safety net will dramatically increase the support going forward for producers.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
There are many more aspects to this issue, and to read a detailed article, or to listen to the entire interview, go to UNL Center for Ag Profitability’s website, at CAP.unl.edu, or download from Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.