WEST POINT, Neb. (KTIV) -
In Nebraska, the USDA is also forecasting the corn crop will be down 13% from last year's production.
And in Cuming County, producers say while drought is making it difficult but there's a bit of a silver lining.
They are using the "short corn" to make silage to feed their livestock.
"We have a lot of producers here that utilize forages for their for their feed base. So there are some concerns here whether or not we are going to have the ethanol by-product that we can put into our diets and whether or not we can get hay and at what price we can get it into our rations, " Larry Howard, a Cuming County Extension Educator from the University of Nebraska Lincoln said.
"We will survive. The thing that worries me the most about the drought is one year is kind of tough, two years would be really tough and I've heard of five or six year droughts before my time and that would be really really tough. That would threaten the food supply," Ron Coufal, a Howells Nebraska producer said.
Governor Heineman was in Cuming County Friday and the USDA through the disaster declaration has low interest loans available for producers.
"We need moisture and none of us control that. On the other hand, I want to applaud our farmers and ranchers, they've been through this before. They understand the challenges, they got prepared for it and they are going to weather this difficult year," Governor Dave Heineman, Nebraska said.
Soybean production in Nebraska is forecasted at 215 million bushels, which would be the lowest figure since 2007.
