2021 Nebraska Harvest
Kloee Sander
Author
03/20/2022
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Description
2022 SPJ Region 7 Mark of Excellence Finalists
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- [00:00:01.400](stairs creaking)
- [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.
- [00:00:25.288]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,
- [00:00:32.670]who spend their October and November harvesting grain
- [00:00:36.200]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, particularly from China
- [00:01:03.530]and other countries in Asia.
- [00:01:05.690]Why does this matter?
- [00:01:07.210]A UNL professor says more money in farmer's 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 to buy
- [00:01:21.250]inputs 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 or output,
- [00:01:41.650]in terms of 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
- [00:01:58.906]or pork or chickens or other food stuffs
- [00:02:04.149]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 many farmers feel the same way.
- [00:02:32.520]Near Bruning, Nebraska, this is Kloee Sander
- [00:02:35.050]reporting for the Nebraska News Service.
- [00:02:37.554](equipment humming)
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