Podcast: Nebraska corn farmers make big investment to get crop in the ground

In this podcast, Joel Grams, a farmer from Minden and member of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, notes that USDA's early estimate is for Nebraska corn farmers to plant some 10.3 million acres of corn this spring – the most in the Nebraska since the early 1930s.

As noted by the Nebraska Corn Board, Grams said, it costs about $270 per acre in crop inputs to plant corn and get it off to a good start.

"When taken times 10.3 million acres, that means Nebraska farmers plan to invest some $2.8 billion this spring just to plant corn," said Grams. That figure doesn’t include land costs, labor or equipment. It’s purely crop inputs like seed and fertilizer.

"That’s a lot of dollars spent by farmers all across the state," he said. "Those dollars go to cooperatives and other companies who provide the inputs, so it circulates further through the state’s economy."

So how is this planting investment coming along in Nebraska? USDA said today that 4 percent of the state's corn crop is planted, double the pace of last year and 3 points ahead of the five-year average. Nationwide, 17 percent of the crop is planted, up from 5 percent last year and the five-year average.

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