ne-agri-facts NEBRASKA AGRI-FACTS Issue 04/2005 Released: 02/25/2005 by USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service Mark Harris, Director Dean C. Groskurth, Deputy Director ------------------------------------------------------------------------ P.O Box 81069 Location: 298 Federal Bldg Lincoln, NE 68501 Phone: (402) 437-5541 e-mail: nass-ne@nass.usda.gov Internet: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ne/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Producers and Data Users: Information contained herein is the result of mail, phone and personal interview surveys conducted during the past few weeks. Special recognition and appreciation are extended to all producers and agribusinesses who provided data making these reports possible. Mark Harris Director For the PDF version of this report, go to the following address: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ne/agrifact/agf0504.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nebraska Cattle on Feed Up 3 Percent Nebraska feedlots, with capacities of 1,000 or more head, contained 2.35 million cattle on feed on February 1, up 3 percent from last year and 6 percent above February 1, 2003. Placements of cattle into feedlots during January totaled 425,000 head, up 12 percent from 2004 but 11 percent below 2003. Fed cattle marketings for the month of January totaled 360,000 head, the same as last year but 8 percent below January 2003. Other disappearance during January totaled 15,000 head compared with 20,000 head during January 2004 and 10,000 head during January 2003. U.S. Cattle on Feed Up 2 Percent Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.3 million head on February 1, 2005. The inventory was 2 percent above February 1, 2004 and 6 percent below February 1, 2003. Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.89 million, 7 percent above 2004 but 10 percent below 2003. Marketings of fed cattle during January totaled 1.78 million, up slightly from 2004 but down 10 percent from 2003. Other disappearance totaled 74,000 during January, 21 percent below 2004 and 1 percent below 2003. Cattle on Feed: Number on Feed, Placements, Marketings and Other Disappearance, 1,000+ Capacity Feedlots, by Month, State, and United States, 2004-2005 February 1 January January Jan. Other State Number on Feed 1/ Placements Marketings Disappearance 2/ 2005/ 2005/ 2005/ 2005/ 2004 2005 2004 2004 2005 2004 2004 2005 2004 2004 2005 2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,000 Head % 1,000 Head % 1,000 Head % 1,000 Head % Arizona 296 325 110 32 27 84 26 30 115 3 3 100 California 500 525 105 55 59 107 60 63 105 5 6 120 Colorado 1,040 1,060 102 165 175 106 160 185 116 5 10 200 Idaho 275 265 96 41 37 90 64 66 103 2 1 50 Iowa 385 465 121 64 77 120 47 60 128 2 2 100 Kansas 2,420 2,420 100 455 475 104 440 450 102 25 15 60 Nebraska 2,280 2,350 103 380 425 112 360 360 100 20 15 75 New Mexico 117 129 110 17 18 106 13 13 100 2 2 100 Oklahoma 350 350 100 50 55 110 53 52 98 2 3 150 So. Dakota 200 205 103 30 41 137 29 26 90 1 2 200 Texas 2,770 2,720 98 390 425 109 430 395 92 20 10 50 Washington *195 190 97 *29 30 103 *33 29 88 1 1 100 Other States 310 330 106 46 41 89 60 47 78 6 4 67 United States *11,138 11,334 102 *1,754 1,885 107 *1,775 1,776 100 94 74 79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised. 1/ Cattle and calves on feed are animals for slaughter market being fed a ration of grain or other concentrates and are expected to produce a carcass that will grade select or better. 2/ Includes death losses, movement from feedlots to pastures and shipments to other feedlots for further feeding. Source: USDA NASS Cattle on Feed, February 18, 2005. Milk Cows: Licensed Dairy Operations, Number, and Milk Produced by Quarter, Nebraska and United States, 2003-2004 Licensed Dairy Milk Cows Production per Production State and Operations Cow Month 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Number 1,000 Head Pounds Million Pounds Nebraska January - March 66 61 297 267 April - June 65 60 294 266 July - September 63 61 268 254 October - December 62 61 270 264 Annual 500 450 64 61 17,641 17,230 1,129 1,051 United States - Annual 70,375 66,830 9,083 9,010 18,760 18,957 170,394 170,805 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Source: USDA NASS Milk Production, February 17, 2005. Chickens: Inventory By Type, Nebraska and United States, December 1, 2003-2004 Nebraska United States Item 2003 2004 2004/2003 2003 2004 2004/2003 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands Percent Thousands Percent All Chickens 14,223 13,972 98 449,764 454,165 101 Total Layers 11,800 12,003 102 340,979 344,278 101 Pullets 13 weeks old and older but less than 20 weeks 562 41,955 Pullet chicks and pullets under 13 weeks of age 1,861 58,391 Total pullets 1/ 1,969 101,624 Other chickens 0 0 8,439 8,263 98 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ 2004 age break-outs for pullets are not available due to program change. Source: USDA NASS Chickens and Eggs 2004 Summary, February 2005. Eggs: Production, Average Number and Eggs per Layer, Nebraska and United States 2003-2004 Nebraska United States Item 2003 2004 2003 2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eggs Produced (million) 3,126 3,174 87,473 89,131 Average Number of Layers (thousand) 11,746 11,766 338,393 342,279 Eggs per Layer (number) 266 270 259 260 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: USDA NASS Chickens and Eggs 2004 Summary, February 2005. Potato Stocks Fall Potatoes: Production and Stocks on February 1, 2005 1/ Crop of 2004 Total Stocks State Production Feb. 1, 2005 2/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thousand Cwt. California 3,876 1,900 Colorado 23,148 12,900 Idaho 131,970 75,000 Maine 19,220 11,100 Michigan 13,650 5,300 Minnesota 18,920 10,200 Montana 3,551 3,250 Nebraska 9,288 New York 5,184 1,300 North Dakota 26,765 15,300 Ohio 1,080 Oregon 19,775 11,800 Pennsylvania 2,640 900 Washington 93,810 36,500 Wisconsin 30,450 14,500 Other States 4,240 Total 15 States 403,327 204,190 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Stocks include processor holdings and most of the seed to plant following year's crops. 2/ Missing stocks combined into "Other States". Source: USDA NASS Potato Stocks, February 15, 2005. Crop Summary: Marketing Year Average Price and Value of Production, Nebraska and United States, 2002-2004 Prod. Price Value of Production Crop Unit 2002 2003 2004 2002 2003 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nebraska Dollars 1,000 Dollars Corn for Grain Bushels 2.32 2.39 1.95 2,182,656 2,686,838 2,573,415 Sorghum for Grain Cwt. 4.23 4.19 3.00 37,901 72,738 56,473 Oats Bushels 2.00 1.53 1.30 4,730 10,052 4,862 Barley Bushels 1.85 1.90 2.00 237 380 324 All Wheat Bushels 3.60 3.22 3.20 180,576 269,578 195,360 Winter Wheat Bushels 3.60 3.22 3.20 180,576 269,578 195,360 Soybeans Bushels 5.43 7.02 5.05 957,472 1,279,395 1,115,419 Dry Edible Beans Cwt. 18.60 17.30 22.80 64,449 54,512 54,173 All Hay (baled) Ton 85.00 54.00 51.00 481,425 407,290 309,883 Alfalfa Hay (baled) Ton 85.50 55.00 51.00 346,275 287,100 226,338 All Other Hay (baled) Ton 79.50 50.50 49.00 135,150 120,190 83,545 All Potatoes Cwt. 6.10 5.05 5.60 52,527 49,207 52,013 Sugar Beets Ton 40.00 42.30 30,400 36,420 Sunflower (all) Cwt. 12.30 12.10 14.40 3,171 7,003 7,536 Sunflower (oil) Cwt. 12.10 10.70 13.00 2,178 4,622 4,323 Sunflower (non-oil) Cwt. 12.90 16.20 17.00 993 2,381 3,213 Proso Millet Bu. 7.20 3.05 3.05 8,640 9,852 10,294 United States Corn for Grain Bushels 2.32 2.42 1.95 20,882,448 24,476,803 23,032,795 Sorghum for Grain Cwt. 4.14 4.26 3.05 855,140 964,978 839,210 Oats Bushels 1.81 1.48 1.40 212,078 224,910 168,015 Barley Bushels 2.72 2.83 2.50 605,635 755,140 694,038 All Wheat Bushels 3.56 3.40 3.38 5,637,416 7,929,039 7,191,798 Winter Wheat Bushels 3.41 3.27 3.30 3,810,235 5,597,974 4,916,122 Soybeans Bushels 5.53 7.34 5.10 15,252,691 18,013,753 16,098,170 Dry Edible Beans Cwt. 17.10 18.40 24.80 519,341 422,793 444,795 All Hay (baled) Ton 92.40 85.50 89.70 12,338,010 12,006,783 12,197,354 Alfalfa Hay (baled) Ton 100.00 90.80 97.50 7,137,469 6,724,537 6,977,603 All Other Hay (baled) Ton 73.80 70.90 70.00 5,200,541 5,282,246 5,219,751 All Potatoes Cwt. 6.67 5.89 5.62 3,045,310 2,685,822 2,564,165 Sugar Beets Ton 39.60 41.40 1,097,329 1,270,026 Sunflower (all) Cwt. 12.10 12.10 13.20 294,595 316,214 268,364 Sunflower (oil) Cwt. 11.70 11.30 12.50 241,851 254,076 220,475 Sunflower (non-oil) Cwt. 13.70 15.20 14.90 52,744 62,138 47,889 Proso Millet Bu. 7.22 2.95 2.85 26,462 33,730 42,611 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: All prices in this report are marketing year average prices which do not include allowances or adjustments for commodities under government loan at the end of the marketing year, commodities forfeited to the Commodity Credit Corporation, loan deficiency payments, direct and counter cyclical payments or disaster payments. Source: USDA NASS Crop Values 2004 Summary, February 2005. Hired Workers Down 12 Percent, Wage Rates Up 4 Percent From a Year Ago There were 749,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches the week of January 9-15, 2005, down 12 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 574,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees working on farms and ranches made up the remaining 175,000 workers. Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $9.81 per hour during the January 2005 reference week, up 40 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $8.73 per hour, up 34 cents from last January. Livestock workers earned $9.19 per hour compared with $8.83 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $8.91 per hour, was up 36 cents from last year. The number of hours worked averaged 36.8 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down 3 percent from a year ago. The largest decreases in the number of hired farm workers from last year occurred in California, Florida, and in the Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas), Lake (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin), and Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia) regions. The largest increases in number of hired farm workers from a year ago were in the Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Northern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), Mountain III (Arizona and New Mexico), and Northeast I (New England and New York) regions. Farm Labor: Number and Wage Rates for Type of Workers and All Hired Workers, Selected Regions and United States, January 11-17, 2004 & January 9-15, 2005 1/ -------------------Wage Rates----------------- -----------Type of work---------- Region 2/ Hired All Hired Field & Workers Workers Field Livestock Livestock 2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thousands Dollars Per Hour Lake 50 43 10.68 10.61 10.11 9.65 9.41 9.67 9.60 9.66 Cornbelt I 23 28 10.70 10.06 9.98 9.40 10.01 8.95 10.00 9.18 Cornbelt II 19 21 10.15 10.63 9.12 9.16 9.79 10.28 9.50 10.07 Northern Plains 23 27 9.75 9.82 9.89 10.26 8.78 8.60 9.11 9.20 Southern Plains 60 50 8.43 9.56 7.46 8.01 7.97 9.35 7.73 8.75 Mountain I 12 12 8.92 9.76 8.29 9.42 8.72 8.82 8.64 8.95 Mountain II 17 17 9.80 9.93 8.75 7.37 8.81 9.65 8.80 8.83 United States 662 574 9.41 9.81 8.39 8.73 8.83 9.19 8.55 9.81 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Excludes agricultural service workers.2/ Regions consist of the following: Lake: Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin; Cornbelt I: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio; Cornbelt II: Iowa, Missouri; Northern Plains: Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota; Southern Plains: Oklahoma, Texas; Mountain I: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming; Mountain II: Colorado, Nevada, Utah. Source: USDA NASS Farm Labor, February 18, 2005.