Farms.com Home   News

Number Of Nebraska Farms Decreases In 2016

USDA NASS chart of farm size for 2016
 
The number of farms and ranches declined during 2016, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. The number of farms and ranches in the state, at 48,400 was down 300 farms from 2015.
 
Numbers of farms and ranches with less than $100,000 in agricultural sales declined 900 farms from a year earlier, while operations with more than $100,000 increased 600 farms from 2015.
 
Land in farms and ranches in Nebraska totaled 25.2 million acres, unchanged from 2015. The average size of operation, at 934 acres, was up six acres from a year earlier.
 
Nationally, the number of US farms was estimated at 2.06 million for 2016, down approximately 8,000 farms from 2015. Total land in farms, at 911,000,000 acres, decreased 1 million acres from 2015. Average farm size increased by one acre.
 

Trending Video

Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker


Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.