Potato chips, wine, and peas highlight diversity of Nebraska agriculture

When you rip into a bag of chips or pop some popcorn, you may be supporting farms in Nebraska, where agriculture is much more than corn and cattle.

"I really do think diversification is important for agriculture in Nebraska," said Ben Zechmann, manager of CSS Farms near Minden.

Nebraska produces some of the world’s best steaks, but also your favorite snacks.

Zechmann said, "Most of the potato chips you eat in our area probably came from our farm."

He oversees a potato operation that blends into the Nebraska landscape.

"I grew up 20 miles from here and had no idea this operation was even in existence," he said.

Conventional farms are getting bigger, and Zechmann sees peril in becoming too dependent on corn and soybeans.

"With consolidation come risk for stagnation. Innovation is key for agriculture, and if people get complacent, that innovation will stop," he said.

Vineyards have popped up in Nebraska, plus fruits, veggies, trees, and more. Even farms that appear conventional may be growing white corn, popcorn, or organic corn.

Extension Educator Elizabeth Killinger said, "There's a lot of interest in specialty crops because it's smaller scale but it is more manpower and lot more infrastructure."

She said just as Nebraska wines have been bottled in recent years, now the local brewery scene drives interest in potential for hops. But like potatoes, she says there’s a lot of up front cost, but also opportunity.

"Especially with hops, the demand is out there. They want locally grown hops so if you have the infrastructure and you have crop, there's a market," Killinger said.

She cautioned if the market grows too quickly, those who grow hops could face challenges.

She said anyone who wants to grow a specialty crop needs to pencil out the numbers. She said convincing a banker can be tough.

"Working with your bank to educate them on what your markets are," she said.

And vineyards and other specialty crop growers worry about herbicides that drift, damaging grape production for much more than a single season.

"Then you're out several years of production while waiting for vines to get good size so you can harvest again," Killinger said.

Labor’s a challenge for CSS Farms. It takes a dozen or two people year round, plus more to plant and harvest. And Ben Zechmann says the cost to raise a crop can be three or four times what corn would be.

He said, "This is a high risk high reward crop. We'll spend the money to get the product."

And potato farmers say they can just about forget crop insurance.

"It's essentially uninsurable in our area," Zechmann said.

Some conventional farmers like Clay Govier of Custer County explore rotational crops that could benefit the soil and diversify their finances, with things like field peas.

"It's a growing market and there's a lot of potential. There's more that are grown in the panhandle, don't see much in central Nebraska but demand is certainly growing," Govier said.

The support system for corn is strong, with grain elevators, agronomists, and seed dealers. But specialty crop growers often have to hunt for the basic equipment.

Zechmann said, "We Tear a piece of machinery down to the frame and rebuild to our specifications."

Potato farms pay more for rent. Zechmann said potatoes will be grown on any given field, every third year in rotation with corn. So to have annual production, CSS Farms has to have about four dozen fields to work with.

Plus Zechmann says agribusiness companies don’t compete for their business, so they don’t see the innovation corn and soybean growers benefit from, like new herbicides and chemistries.

For CSS Farms, they take pride in sustainability, while producing a product their customer wants. In this case, it's the nation's number one potato chip producer who contracts to buy most of their potatoes, getting them from the farm to the bag ready to be shipped to grocery stores in about 24 hours.

"We have the best product possible at all times," Zechmann said.

Nebraska has the climate and soil, but Ben Zechmann says the people make it work.

"That’s what it takes," he said. "If we didn’t have these guys, none of this would happen."