Agriculture Shorts

The latest numbers from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service estimate Nebraska's 2024 corn crop will be 1.88 billion bushels, up 9%, with an average yield of 194 bushels per acre, up 12 bushels. Soybean production is estimated at 310 million bushels, up 16% with an average yield of 59 bushels per acre, up 7.5 bushels . . . The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared 16 counties in Nebraska as natural disaster areas due to this summer's severe storms. The declaration allows the USDA Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to recovering producers . . . Measure J, the ballot measure in Sonoma County, California, looking to phase out and prohibit large livestock operations failed with 85% of the voters voting against it . . . USDA's slaughter data for the week ending October 18 showed steer dressed weights averaged 960 pounds, 10 pounds heavier than the previous week, 33 pounds heavier than the same week a year ago, and 36 pounds heavier than the three-year average . . . Magnetic reports a study from Perdue University showed grain entrapments have fallen 34% since 2022 . . . The International Food Information Council says consumer confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply has declined to 62% this year from 70% last year . . . The Seward County Independent reported that the Seward city council voted to approve a land lease agreement with Dari Processing, LLC. Dari Processing wants to build a processing facility that will produce milk products which do not require refrigeration. The $165 million project is expected to create 75 jobs.