Nebraska Harvest Time

Nebraska Harvest Time Author

02/13/2022 Added

3 Plays

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Finalists in the National Broadcasting Society’s National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition

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[00:00:00.820](wind blowing)
[00:00:03.770]Ron Volkmer has been farming
[00:00:05.570]near Bruning, Nebraska, for 36 years.
[00:00:09.160]Some years are good and some years are bad.
[00:00:10.810]Ron's crew has 10 people on it.
[00:00:13.610]They tackle almost 6,000 acres each harvest.
[00:00:17.290]They know what they're doing.
[00:00:18.230]These guys, this isn't their first rodeo
[00:00:20.400]and so they, the truck drivers, know trucks,
[00:00:22.850]and the grain cart drivers know the grain carts.
[00:00:25.700]And hopefully, we that drive the combines,
[00:00:27.870]know what we're doing occasionally.
[00:00:29.160]Volkmer is like thousands of farmers
[00:00:31.400]across Nebraska who spend their October and November
[00:00:35.070]harvesting grain to get their paycheck for the year.
[00:00:38.600]It's a rare year where we actually have good prices
[00:00:42.670]and we have good production.
[00:00:45.820]Farmers are happy with the prices this year.
[00:00:48.567]The USDA says corn prices are up 21%.
[00:00:53.630]One economist says the global marketplace
[00:00:55.990]is driving the price up.
[00:00:58.090]So we've had some production hiccups
[00:00:59.330]in other places across the world.
[00:01:01.230]We've had strong demand,
[00:01:02.450]particularly from China and and other countries in Asia.
[00:01:05.690]Why does this matter?
[00:01:07.210]A UNL professor says more money in farmers' pockets
[00:01:10.730]help all Nebraskans.
[00:01:12.700]Farmers start selling their grain, their cattle,
[00:01:16.260]and generating money,
[00:01:17.730]so then they're going to use that money
[00:01:19.680]to buy imports for the next season.
[00:01:22.920]Harvest season is essential for the economy.
[00:01:25.660]Over 300,000 Nebraskans work in agriculture,
[00:01:29.470]and the state has nearly 45 million acres of farmland.
[00:01:33.880]It's about a quarter of our state's economy
[00:01:35.940]in terms of the number of jobs, the total income
[00:01:38.600]or total revenue that it generates,
[00:01:40.310]or output in terms of the value-added that it brings.
[00:01:44.150]A boost to the economy
[00:01:45.330]is not the only thing harvest brings.
[00:01:47.840]Harvest directly affects each person.
[00:01:50.400]Grain feeds livestock,
[00:01:51.710]and goes into products like plastics and diesel.
[00:01:54.930]When we're providing a feed stuff to raise beef,
[00:01:59.410]or pork, or chickens, or other food stuffs
[00:02:05.110]that we eventually end up on America's tables.
[00:02:09.180]Farmers' hard work is rewarded
[00:02:10.920]at the end of harvest when they sell their crops.
[00:02:14.060]But Volkmer says harvest means more to him
[00:02:16.280]than just bringing in grain.
[00:02:17.970]Hope that the crops are good,
[00:02:19.980]hope that the equipment runs,
[00:02:22.250]hope that we can cover the operating line at the bank,
[00:02:25.180]pay the bank off, and be here next year to try it again.
[00:02:29.380]It's safe to say,
[00:02:30.270]many farmers feel the same way.
[00:02:32.520]Near Bruning, Nebraska, this is Chloe Sander
[00:02:35.050]reporting for the Nebraska News Service.
[00:02:37.569](engine rumbling)

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Nebraska Harvest Time

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