1997 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE, HIGHLIGHTS OF AGRICULTURE
NEBRASKA -- 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997
Item 1997 1992 1987 1982
Farms .........................number.. 51,454 52,923 60,502 60,243
Land in farms ..................acres.. 45,525,414 44,393,129 45,305,441 44,961,371
Average size of farm .......acres.. 885 839 749 746
Value of land and buildings@1:        
Average per farm .........dollars.. $567,468 $429,188 $344,253 $532,741
Average per acre .........dollars.. 645 514 457 701
 
Estimated market value of all mach. & equip.@1
Average per farm .........dollars.. $84,535 $69,120 $58,799 $68,007
 
Farms by size:
1 to 9 acres .................. 2,591 3,698 5,090 4,162
10 to 49 acres ...................... 4,733 4,302 4,296 4,062
50 to 179 acres ..................... 9,764 9,408 11,166 11,100
180 to 499 acres .................... 12,648 14,003 17,320 19,128
500 to 999 acres .................... 10,338 10,966 12,153 11,847
1,000 acres or more ................. 11,380 10,546 10,477 9,944
 
Total cropland .................farms.. 45,191 46,348 53,500 54,475
acres.. 22,092,954 22,402,132 23,320,162 22,434,059
Harvested cropland ...........farms.. 41,652 43,879 51,175 52,497
acres.. 17,551,212 16,146,818 15,276,151 17,075,625
Irrigated land .................farms.. 18,804 19,328 22,596 22,190
acres.. 6,939,036 6,311,633 5,681,835 6,039,292
 
Market value of agricultural products sold...$1,000.. $9,831,519 $8,209,691 $6,667,132 $6,625,742
Average per farm .........dollars.. 191,074 155,125 110,197 109,984
Crops, including nursery and greenhouse crops...$1,000.. $3,798,462 $2,651,484 $2,139,116 $2,379,811
Livestock, poultry, and their products.......$1,000.. $6,033,057 $5,558,208 $4,528,016 $4,245,931
 
Farms by value of sales:
Less than $2,500 .................... 5,658 3,966 4,694 3,839
$2,500 to $4,999 .................... 2,394 2,664 3,405 2,963
$5,000 to $9,999 .................... 3,497 4,021 5,515 4,615
$10,000 to $24,999 .................. 6,733 8,445 10,923 10,096
$25,000 to $49,999 .................. 6,962 8,362 10,681 11,517
$50,000 to $99,999 .................. 8,005 9,274 11,305 12,508
$100,000 or more .................... 18,205 16,191 13,979 14,671
 
Total farm production expenses.$1,000.. $7,596,196 $6,711,544 $5,409,171 NA
Average per farm .........dollars.. 147,628 126,824 89,403 NA
 
Operators by principal occupation:
Farming ............................. 35,742 39,123 45,387 47,549
Other ............................... 15,712 13,800 15,115 12,694
Operators by days worked off farm:        
Any .......................... 22,073 20,920 24,403 21,933
200 days or more ................... 13,129 11,927 13,099 10,764
 
Livestock and poultry:
Cattle and calves inventory...farms.. 29,298 30,421 34,701 39,555
number.. 6,732,637 5,952,880 5,838,806 6,530,561
Beef cows ..................farms.. 23,881 24,270 26,452 30,068
number.. 1,966,105 1,857,347 1,823,591 2,023,618
Milk cows ..................farms.. 1,352 2,122 3,339 4,686
number.. 68,216 83,295 105,168 117,536
Cattle and calves sold .......farms.. 29,505 30,696 35,491 39,796
number.. 7,143,061 6,238,779 5,888,192 6,010,865
Hogs and pigs inventory ......farms.. 6,017 10,826 13,363 15,998
number.. 3,452,386 4,187,389 3,944,227 3,963,364
Hogs and pigs sold ...........farms.. 6,296 11,559 14,162 17,132
number.. 7,602,587 8,405,466 7,442,810 7,064,612
Sheep and lambs inventory ....farms.. 1,615 2,185 2,846 2,929
number.. 98,773 151,777 195,531 231,239
Layers and pullets 13 weeks old and        
older inventory.............farms.. 1,506 1,993 4,225 5,791
number.. 10,469,041 (D) 3,621,152 3,604,279
Broilers and other meat-type        
chickens sold...............farms.. 225 289 524 526
number.. 725,964 1,887,881 910,980 104,105
 
Selected crops harvested:
Corn for grain or seed .......farms.. 29,149 29,679 34,717 34,573
acres.. 8,279,499 7,235,528 6,090,669 6,519,250
bushels.. 1,055,193,186 930,758,282 749,231,198 676,484,963
Corn for silage or green chop....farms.. 4,058 3,950 4,208 8,158
acres.. 209,587 195,029 181,060 384,470
tons, green.. 3,282,555 2,960,555 2,772,092 5,553,101
Sorghum for grain or seed.....farms.. 5,965 10,513 12,576 15,106
acres.. 720,276 1,412,747 1,300,713 1,657,237
bushels.. 56,264,473 122,513,083 101,004,096 116,927,367
Wheat for grain ..............farms.. 9,826 12,671 18,124 20,182
acres.. 1,772,069 1,800,432 1,962,051 2,585,111
bushels.. 61,578,806 53,512,448 76,826,252 87,959,769
Oats for grain................farms.. 2,612 5,234 8,165 10,852
acres.. 86,955 176,148 280,502 396,520
bushels.. 5,113,274 11,341,781 13,643,509 22,158,999
Soybeans for beans ...........farms.. 21,072 20,687 25,598 21,487
acres.. 3,346,701 2,274,494 2,291,803 2,105,816
bushels.. 131,017,170 88,842,343 78,147,991 70,218,107
Hay-alf, other, wild, silage..farms.. 25,215 27,433 30,224 33,840
acres.. 2,932,880 2,895,217 2,868,789 3,203,713
tons, dry.. 6,118,280 6,068,201 5,951,228 6,711,376
@1Data are based on a sample of farms.
Legend:
(D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms
(X) Not applicable
(Z) Less than half the unit shown
(NA) Not available
Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1 Geographic Area Series, "Table 1. County Summary Highlights: 1997." This electronic series presents summary statistics for each county and State together with comparable data from the 1992 census. The items included are the same for all States and counties, except selected crops harvested, which vary by State. Data for 1997 and 1992 are directly comparable for acreage and inventories. Dollar values have not been adjusted for changes in price levels.
You can obtain the Volume 1 Geographic Area Series from the National Technical Information Service. If you have any questions concerning the data in this report or need additional information or order forms for agriculture publications, please call the National Agricultural Statistics Service at 1-800-523-3215 or 1-800-727-9540.

Last Updated on 2/5/99
By NDED, Research Division
Email: mlundeen@neded.org