Drought is hurting Nebraska’s economy, and the impacts could ripple worldwide

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Experts say the economy in Nebraska is seeing downward trends, and one of the main reasons is the drought.

The market for crops has been fluctuating with the weather, and Ernie Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University, said this could affect many people around the world.

“What happens in Nebraska is going to have some impacts in China, for example, Vietnam, South Korea,” Goss said. “Those nations all depend on pork, soybeans, corn, beef, and those products all come from Nebraska.”

SEE ALSO: ‘We haven’t seen anything like this’: Nebraska drought causes cattle feed shortage

Though the eastern portion of Nebraska has received good amounts of rain in the past week, there’s still a long way to go before the conditions are good for farming.

Austin Hunthoorn, an economist at Nebraska Farm Bureau, said farmers were prepared for some of these conditions.

“When you talk about drought, everyone talks about the 2012 drought and how widespread that drought was and how commodity prices were elevated and a lot of guys didn’t have much yield that year,” said Hunthoorn. “Even in 2022, there was a few guys in the western part of Nebraska that didn’t have much yield.”

SEE ALSO: Experts say rainfall in eastern Nebraska isn’t nearly enough to cure drought

This drought has been building for a couple of years now, and it began to impact prices last harvest season.

But Hunthoorn said it’s hard to tell whether crops will be more expensive than normal at this point in the season.

“It kind of all depends on the rain we get between now and harvest,” he said. “It’s been really dry here for a long time, so for a lot of folks, the rains that came through on the Fourth of July, it might be too late to get a good yield.”

SEE ALSO: Some Nebraska farmers preparing for total crop loss due to drought

And Goss said the struggles in the agriculture sector are having an effect on other things in Nebraska’s economy, such as manufacturing.

“It’s likely to go on for a while,” he said. “We’ll continue to see some of the lagged impacts in food processing, for example.”

The drought conditions are bad in Kansas as well, which is why Goss said prices could rise across the country and even worldwide.

Hunthoorn said not to set expectations before we see what the harvest brings.

“Don’t count too much on what you think is going to happen, and just be prepared for either way,” he said.

SEE ALSO: City of Lincoln asks residents to conserve water amid drought conditions