Farm Bureau: Flooding-Related Ag Losses in Nebraska Nearing $1B

The Nebraska Farm Bureau president says farm and ranch losses to the devastating flooding could reach $1 billion in the state.

President Steve Nelson estimates $400 million on crop losses because of crops that will be planted late _ if at all. He also estimates up to $500 million in livestock losses as the state struggles with swollen rivers and breached or overtopped levees following heavy rain and snowmelt.

He told the Omaha World-Herald, “That gets us close to a billion dollars. I would not be surprised to see the lost agriculture numbers go over a billion dollars.”

Agriculture amounts to 20 percent of the state’s gross domestic product and provides one of every four jobs.

The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency says the current public impact of flooding in Nebraska is $205.5 million and the private impact is $59.7 million.