March 12th, 2024 | Nebraska Farm Bureau News Release
Custer County ranked as Nebraska’s top corn-producing county in 2023 and Gage County topped the state in soybean production according to estimates by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farmers in Custer County produced 45.7 million bushels of corn while farmers in Gage County produced 8.1 million bushels of soybeans.
Figures 1 and 2 map county-level production of corn and soybeans for 2023. The darker a county’s color, the greater the production. No data was reported for counties colored grey. Estimates on corn production is available for 69 counties, accounting for 80 percent of production, and for 61 counties for soybean production making up 88 percent of production.
Dawson County, 45.1 million bushels, and Hamilton County, 44.8 million bushels, followed Custer County as leading corn-producing counties. Corn production has historically centered in counties along Interstate 80 and the Platte River ranging from York and Fillmore Counties in the east to Dawson and Phelps Counties in the west and last year was no exception.
Custer County is the only county outside this corridor which consistently shows up as a top producer. Lincoln, Holt, Antelope, Platte, and Merrick Counties have made appearances as top corn producers in the past but haven’t shown the staying power of the other counties.
FIGURE 1. CORN PRODUCTION BY COUNTY, 2023
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics ServiceFor soybeans, Saunders County has regularly been the state’s top producing county but last year it was displaced by Gage County. Last year Saunders County ranked second with production of 7.7 million bushels. Cedar County followed with 7.2 million bushels. As in past years, soybean production in 2023 was centered in eastern Nebraska. FIGURE 2. SOYBEAN PRODUCTION BY COUNTY, 2023Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics ServiceFigure 3 shows a different perspective of last year’s production, mapping the top producing counties for each commodity. A top producing county is considered one which produced at least 2 percent of the state’s total production. Counties in orange—Holt, Cedar, Platte, Saunders, and Fillmore—are ones which met the threshold for both corn and soybeans.
With the exception of these five counties, the top corn and soybean producing counties are geographically distinct—top corn producing counties are located in central Nebraska and top soybean producing ones are scattered in eastern Nebraska. The geographic separation could be due to irrigation. Central Nebraska is heavily irrigated and corn performs better under irrigation compared to soybeans.
On the other hand, the top soybean-producing counties have less irrigation which means soybeans are more economically competitive. The differences demonstrate how crop producers respond to economic and agronomic conditions to maximize returns.
FIGURE 3. TOP PRODUCING CORN & SOYBEAN COUNTIES, 2023
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics ServiceFor soybeans, Saunders County has regularly been the state’s top producing county but last year it was displaced by Gage County. Last year Saunders County ranked second with production of 7.7 million bushels. Cedar County followed with 7.2 million bushels. As in past years, soybean production in 2023 was centered in eastern Nebraska. FIGURE 2. SOYBEAN PRODUCTION BY COUNTY, 2023
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics ServiceFigure 3 shows a different perspective of last year’s production, mapping the top producing counties for each commodity. A top producing county is considered one which produced at least 2 percent of the state’s total production. Counties in orange—Holt, Cedar, Platte, Saunders, and Fillmore—are ones which met the threshold for both corn and soybeans. 
