Top 10 Nebraska Ag Products

1. Cattle and calves – With a total of 6.15 million head, Nebraska raises 7 percent of the nation’s cattle. Beef cattle can be found in every county in the state. The sector earned $10.6 billion in cash receipts in 2013.

2. Corn – The 2013 harvest of 1.62 billion bushels of corn was enough to sweeten 648 billion cans of soda. Nebraska generally ranks third in the nation in corn production and earned $7.21 billion in cash receipts in 2013.

3. Soybeans – Soybeans produced in Nebraska can be used in the production of ink, car seats, crayons and more. Nebraska farmers harvested 4.76 million acres of soybeans in 2013 and generated $3.08 billion in cash receipts.

4. Hogs – The ham sandwich is the most popular lunch sandwich in the United States, so it is no surprise that Nebraska’s pork sector earned a robust $853 million in cash receipts in 2013.

5. Wheat – Farmers harvested 39.9 million bushels of wheat in 2013. This is enough to make 1.67 billion loaves of white bread. The state’s wheat sector earned $273 million in cash receipts in 2013.

6. Milk & dairy products – A total of 53,000 head of dairy cows produced 135 million gallons of milk worth $243 million in cash receipts in 2013. Nebraska is home to approximately 200 dairy farms.

7. Hay – Alfalfa and grass hay are produced in every county in the state to supplement the diets of livestock, especially in winter. Farmers harvested 2.5 million acres of hay in 2013.

8. Chicken eggs – Nebraska is home to 9.3 million chickens that lay about 2.8 billion eggs annually. That is enough eggs to make omelets for 933,333 people. This commodity generated $196 million in cash receipts in 2013.

9. Dry edible beans – In 2013, the dry edible bean sector brought in about $128 million in cash receipts. Varieties grown in Nebraska include Great Northern, pinto, black, light red kidney, navy, pink and garbanzo.

10 . Sugar beets – In Nebraska, sugar beets are generally planted in April and harvested in October, then processed into granulated sugar, powered sugar and brown sugar. Sugar beet producers generated $106 million in cash receipts in 2013.