Excerpts from recent Nebraska editorials

One thing that Nebraska has going for it nationally is low housing costs. The same for electricity. But what are the specifics?

We mentioned recently about how the Nebraska Legislature’s Planning Committee has compiled an incredible assortment of information about the state. The committee’s report answers those questions and many more.

The purpose of the report was to examine a wide range of topics to better understand the state and plan for its future.

Nebraska, the committee found, has greater housing affordability than all but three states.

The housing affordability calculation was straightforward: compare a state’s median housing value with its median household income.

In Nebraska, the ratio is 2.64. That’s well below the national average of 3.59.

How about electric rates? Only eight states have a lower average price per kilowatt-hour, the committee found.

Electric rates nationally for years increased at a far higher pace than in Nebraska. In 1990, the average rate in Nebraska was 84.8 percent of the national average. By 2008, Nebraska’s figure was 67.6 percent of the national one.

In 2009, though, Nebraska’s figure edged up, to 73.4 percent. Not the desired direction.

Some other findings:

— Juvenile justice. One of the most striking numbers in the report is that Nebraska’s juvenile arrest record is quite high — sixth among the 50 states.

Some specifics: Nebraska’s juvenile arrest rate per 100,000 juvenile population was 8,569. In South Dakota, it was 8,516 (seventh nationally, behind Nebraska); Missouri, 7,250; Iowa, 6,335; Kansas, 4,894.

This is one more reason for Nebraska officials to continue their efforts to reorganize the state’s juvenile justice system so it will be more flexible in addressing the wide array of circumstances involving juvenile offenders.

— Obesity. Nebraska’s rate for adult obesity has been consistently higher than the national average. Child obesity has been lower than nationally, but the Nebraska number has begun to worsen of late.

— Farm size. The report shows that it’s hard to generalize about farm size in Nebraska. There are a dozen categories for farm size, and they show that farm sizes range widely. The largest single size category: Sixteen percent of Nebraska farms are between 500 and 999 acres.

— Farms by value of sales. The story is the same for this category: Another pie chart with many different farm-value categories, none of which holds a majority. Eight percent of farms had sales of $25,000 to $49,999. Eleven percent had sales of $50,000 to $99,999. Seventeen percent of farms had sales of $100,000 to $249,999. Twelve percent of farms had sales of $250,000 to $499,999.

Cash receipts for Nebraska livestock sales historically have exceeded those for crop sales, with the exception of 2009.

In 2010, government farm payments in Nebraska totaled $509,000. Total net farm income that year was $4.3 billion.

Nebraska is a diverse state with diverse interests. It’s important for our leaders to understand that variety and then make sound decisions on that information.

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Lincoln Journal Star. Sept. 4, 2012.

The drought and the deluge

A few generations ago, a drought such as the one now gripping the Midwest would have triggered an outpouring of sympathy for farmers dependent on the whims of the weather for their livelihoods.

Now things are not so simple.

A prediction of record farm income earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Agriculture drove home how effective the safety net is for some, particularly those who raise commodity crops like corn and soybeans.

Consider how odd this lead paragraph from Bloomberg News sounds: “The worst U.S. drought in more than five decades is forecast to raise farm profits to a record $122.2 billion this year .”

The backlash has been fierce, particularly from conservative and tea party types.

“If you listened to the hysterical clamoring of pundits and politicians, you could be forgiven for thinking that the drought was the long-awaited arrival of the Black Horseman of the Apocalypse .,” wrote Drew White of Heritage Action, a sister organization of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

When members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation return to Washington, they may find it more difficult to win passage of a new farm bill.

White continued, “Given this new report, there is an even stronger argument to be made against this market-distorting welfare bill … This would be shocking only if it weren’t so common.”

What’s changed during the past couple of decades is the growth of crop insurance. The number of acres insured by U.S. farmers has risen from 45 million acres in 1981 to 262 million in 2011, according to the National Agriculture Statistics Service.

Taxpayers subsidize an average 60 percent of the premiums farmers pay for crop insurance. Payout can be up to 85 percent of the revenue that would be generated based on average yields.

So in a year such as this one, when the price of corn is soaring to record levels, even farmers who find cobs with only a few kernels on their shriveled stalks still can expect to get a sizable check from their insurance company.

In the big picture, it should be remembered, not all farmers benefit. Livestock producers, who are greatly important to the Nebraska economy, are being hit by high prices for feed. Ranchers are losing several hundred dollars per head of cattle. When all the numbers are in, farm income in Nebraska may not hit record levels.

The Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons is among the organizations calling for scaling back crop insurance. The center wants Congress to enact caps on subsidies for crop insurance premiums for individual farmers.

The deluge of taxpayer dollars flowing to farmers in this drought could and should boost support for the center’s position.

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Scottsbluff Star Herald. Sept. 4, 2012.

Tragedy

The numbers are staggering.

Three raging wildfires, charring about 260 square miles across two states, including much of the northern Panhandle.

More than 50 structures damaged, including 10 homes.

Nearly 500 firefighters from 35 volunteer fire departments working with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and federal incident command teams.

About 400 people evacuated from their homes.

One person dead, of an apparent heart attack.

It could have been worse. Fire crews stopped the flames from reaching Chadron, where a fire burned to the edge of town in 2006. By Monday morning, authorities had lifted evacuation orders for residents whose homes had been in the path of the fires.

The Douthit fire northwest of Fort Robinson was nearly contained and had charred about 47 square miles by Sunday night. The West Ash Creek fire, which started south of Crawford and burned toward Chadron, had blackened more than 91 square miles. They were about half contained by Saturday night.

The Wellnitz Fire, burning farther east near Rushville, was still raging and only 20 percent contained as of midday. It had spread to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The weather forecast Monday called for a high in the 90s in Chadron, with winds of 5 to 15 mph. No rain was predicted until Thursday night.

The fires are believed to have been started by so-called dry lightning. Some of the same land had burned six years ago and was loaded with dead vegetation. The entire Pine Ridge forest is tinder dry, having seen little rain since last year.

As Chadron Fire Chief Pat Gould put it, “Firefighters have put more water on the ground than Mother Nature this year.”

The worst impact lies ahead for many of the fire’s victims. The cattle industry is the backbone of western Nebraska’s agricultural economy, and ranchers lost not only cattle but pasture grass and hay to feed the survivors.

It was bad even before the fires. Buying hay to feed animals is an expensive proposition when it is in such short supply.

Lonnie Douthit, a longtime rancher and owner of the property where the fire started, said prices have skyrocketed. These days, he said, hay is going for about $250 per ton. Last year, his best hay went for $70 per ton. Feeding one cow for a year could require a ton and a half of hay. Douthit got about 90 bales of hay off his 350 acres this year. Normally, he gets about 500 bales.

It’s encouraging that offers of donations of hay, grain and animal feed started coming in from residents around the area. Still, it will take years for the area to recover, longer if there’s no break in the hot, dry weather that has much of the nation in its grip.

Our hearts go out to the landowners who face an uphill climb to recover, and our gratitude to the brave firefighters who worked so hard to prevent an even bigger tragedy.

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North Platte Telegraph. Sept. 2, 2012.

The death of a genuine American hero

At a time when we have precious few genuine heroes to hold up as examples for our kids, we lost a huge one last week with the death of Neil Armstrong.

Combat pilot, test pilot, astronaut, first man to walk on the moon — Armstrong had a truly amazing American life before his death last week at the age of 82 of complications from heart surgery.

Most amazing, perhaps, was the way the modest, publicity-shy Armstrong handled the relentless spotlight of having been the first person to set foot on another chunk of space landscape other than planet Earth. Imagine the opportunities, in this time, of chest-thumping self-aggrandizement and rich endorsement deals, that would have been available to the first man to walk on the moon.

And yet, Armstrong never succumbed to the lure of the rich opportunities that could have so easily been his. After staying with NASA for a couple years after his historic flight in July of 1969, Armstrong left the space agency, moved back to his native Ohio, and became an engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati. Imagine having Neil Armstrong as your college professor.

A few years ago, he joked about being a “white socks, pocket-protector nerd” engineer, and proud of it.

More recently, he was asked to attend the dedication of a memorial to veterans in Ohio. According to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, Armstrong agreed, but only on the condition that there be no announcement that he would attend. When Armstrong walked onto the stage, the entire crowd was on its feet, giving him a rousing ovation.

In a recent interview, former astronaut and Apollo 9 lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart said that while any number of astronauts could probably have handled the first landing on the moon itself, Armstrong was the perfect choice to handle the celebrity and intense media focus that came with being the first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong invariably handled that pressure with humility and grace.

Schweickart said Armstrong told him he didn’t spend much time thinking about what he would say when he stepped onto the lunar landscape because he estimated that while there was a 90-percent chance of returning safely to Earth, he figured there was only a 50-percent chance of actually landing on the moon. He was a technical guy, handling a technical challenge, not a wordsmith thinking about the historic words he would speak. Nevertheless, he did pretty well.

True to form for the publicity-shy Armstrong, private funeral services were held Friday in Ohio.

We lost a great American last week, a man who accomplished historic things, and who conducted himself with humility and grace after his time in the most intense, planet-wide spotlight imaginable.

Next time someone says there aren’t many role models left for our kids to emulate, reply with just two simple words:

Neil Armstrong.