Nebraska's Animal Agriculture

Nebraska is a major agricultural state. In 2012, its total value of agricultural production exceeded $25 billion, ranking it fourth highest among states, surpassed only by the levels of California, Iowa, and Minnesota. The net value added of that production in 2012 was $8.8 billion, which represented nearly 10 percent of Nebraska’s total gross state product, the third highest percentage of
the 50 states.

When considering the total agricultural production complex, including the closely related industries providing inputs as well as processing and other important services, the impact on the Nebraska economy becomes even more profound. In 2010, that complex represented 27 percent of the state’s gross state product, 24 percent of the total work force, and 25 percent of the state labor income (Thompson, et al., 2012). Moreover, in several of the sub-state regions, the agricultural production complex in that year accounted for essentially half or more of those regions’ value-added activity.