Why isnt Nebraska pro-Omaha? (Lincoln, North Platte: pros and cons, living in, vs)

[someguyfromnebraska]

Wow, another thread that I can't believe I wasted my time reading!!! IDK it all seems so simple to me. Different strokes for different folks. Some people are all about money and popularity and some people aren't. Many Nebraskans aren't. who really cares what the rest of the country thinks about Omaha? We have our own people to take care of!!!!

[CertifiaBully]

Those farms are actually have extremely affluent, mansion living brand-new top of the line driving farmers who depend on migrant labor that makes little more then minimum wage to do the dirty work while those extremely affluent farmers get richer and richer.

And you live in Nebraska? Are your eyes OPEN all day? 'Mansion-living' was a ridiculous term. The houses are huge on a farm because when great-grandma and great-grandpa ran the farm, they had 12 KIDS living under that roof and working that FARM. Where are you seeing all of these 'migrant laborers'??? I lived in Iowa for 30 years and I have seen my share AND your share of farmers and I am telling you I ain't seen one migrant ANYTHING workin on a farm!! I think you are talking about the cattle ranchers in western Nebraska who hire outside help. Not eastern Nebraska FARMERS!! These are FAMILY run farms! Kids, sisters, in-laws, grandparents, cousins, etc...where do you suspect they are migrating from? I have done umpteen farmer's taxes, I tended bar in a very, VERY rural town in western Iowa, and I went to school with the kids who woke up everyday at 3:30 or 4 am to feed or milk cows BEFORE they went to school--then jump off a bus at 4:00 in the afternoon to feed or milk or do 2-3 hours of FARM CHORES, HAVE DINNER, DO HOMEWORK, and try to get SOME sleep before morning chores!!

Farmers aren't big on hiring just anyone to work land that has been in the family for GENERATIONS!! And I mean to tell you right now that if a farmer IS paying someone outside of the family to work on his farm, you can bet your two-cents AND your compact car that HE, the owner of said farm, has been out there before the hired hand arrived and will be working long after he leaves. Farmers aren't keen on letting someone else 'man the store' while he is home watchin TV! Tell ya what, TALK TO A FARMER...walk in his shoes for a day! Then, after you've rested and have actual experience to back up your story, post again...what you are posting is ramblings from a person who hasn't done his HOMEWORK, my friend!!

If I am way off base here ya'll, please put me in my place, but I think mattden appears to be farther out in left field than me...he just may be in the back 40! LOL I couldn't even read all of the posts on this thread before the 'Iowan' in me was SHREIKING! (She's tiny, but she's loud!)

[CertifiaBully]

I've heard people say how Omaha's economy is built on agriculture. I don't see it. Except for maybe part of Union Pacific and Conagra what other companies owe their existance to agriculture? Mutual of Omaha? Kiewit? Ameritrade? That excuse wears thin.

Yes, I believe Omaha's economy is largely built on agriculture. Speaking as a former Iowan who did MUCH shopping in Omaha when I lived up there, I ran into MANY farmers from my community and surrounding rural towns spending FARM income in Omaha...farmers are funny that way...they like to spend their money where they earn it. All the school shopping and major grocery trips were made in either Omaha or Council Bluffs. Personally, I passed up CB and shopped in Omaha. If a farmer had a choice between buying a car in Lincoln or in Omaha, he would even pay a little more and buy it in Omaha because he is a REGULAR to that community. Same is true of insurance, machinery, etc. Some things you just CAN'T get from a textbook! Just because they aren't herding cattle down I-80, or growing corn in their backyard, or live IN the Omaha business district does NOT mean their money has not been circulating throughout that city for eons and eons. If the farmer stopped buying in Omaha, it would INDEED make an impact very quickly.

[Katiana]

I'm not so sure. My husband is from Omaha and a lot of his family lives there. None of my relatives is working in any kind of farm-related occupation, never did. FIL was a house painter, MIL worked at Brandies (sp?). My BIL works for a TV station, his wife has done a variety of things. Maybe some are working in agriculture very indirectly, eg clerking at a dept store, but that's stretching it a bit. Omaha is a very big city to be classified as a farm town. I've lived in rural Illinois and I've seen farm towns.

[mattpoulsen]

When I originally stated that Omaha's economy was dependent on ag I wasn't at all suggesting it was a farming town or cowtown. I was merely stating that that much of the wealth and the underlying economic driving force is originates from the ag industry. My conclusion was that if you abandoned farming in Nebraska, as a few were suggesting, the economy in Omaha would not flourish, as they were also hypothesizing, rather it would, in fact, collapse.

[ehenningsen]

Every city in america depends on agriculture, however I want to point out Omaha's biggest industries...

1. Berkshire...not agriculture
2. Con Agra...Agriculture
3. Peiter Keiwit...not agriculture
4. Valmont.......little agriculture
5. UP..............not agriculture
6. TD Ameritrade...not agriculture
7. Offutt AFB......not agriculture
8. West Corp......not agriculture
9. FNB..............not agriculture
10. PayPal..........not agriculture
11. Mutual of Omaha.....not agriculture
12. BCBS of Nebraska....not agriculture
13. Sitel......................not agriculture

2005 Non-Farm Employment 454,000
2006 Non-Farm Employment 465,000

I really don't see a big dependancy there... but there is a little bit... I guess Hy-Vee and Whole Foods count??

[mattpoulsen]

Absolutely there are companies that are not heavily tied to Nebraska agriculture. Again, I was never suggesting that Omaha was a cowtown. And my sentiment resonates with what you said concerning all towns in America. My feelings about Omaha's economy depending on agriculture could also be stated for any midwestern city. My point is that you can't abandon agriculture and focus merely on the development of the largest city in the state. This may work in places where a majority of the state's economy isn't dependent upon ag, but not in Nebraska (or Kansas, Iowa, S.D., N.D., Oklahoma, and maybe not even Colorado...although they have more flexibility because of toursim). The point is that there is a lot of money that flows into Omaha from the rest of the state and that wealth is derived from the ag industry.

Plus, there are plenty of companies directly associated to ag in Omaha:

1) ConAgra
2) Valmont (heavy equipment...would greatly be affected without ag)
3) Peter Kiewit (you abandon rural area highways and communities and much of Kiewit's highway, bridge, damn and infrastruture building is gone)
4) Kellogg
5) Union Pacific


Plus, there is a significant amount of wealth tied up in investment, insurance, and banking companies that are in Omaha. I never stated Omaha was a direct ag town. I stated the if you abandon ag in Nebraska then Omaha's economy would collapse. That's it! You have to look at it deeper than direct ag sector jobs.

[Cordor]

Originally Posted by ehenningsen

Every city in america depends on agriculture, however I want to point out Omaha's biggest industries...

1. Berkshire...not agriculture
2. Con Agra...Agriculture
3. Peiter Keiwit...not agriculture
4. Valmont.......little agriculture
5. UP..............not agriculture
6. TD Ameritrade...not agriculture
7. Offutt AFB......not agriculture
8. West Corp......not agriculture
9. FNB..............not agriculture
10. PayPal..........not agriculture
11. Mutual of Omaha.....not agriculture
12. BCBS of Nebraska....not agriculture
13. Sitel......................not agriculture

2005 Non-Farm Employment 454,000
2006 Non-Farm Employment 465,000

I really don't see a big dependancy there... but there is a little bit... I guess Hy-Vee and Whole Foods count??

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Wait! Valmont is no little agriculture. They deal heavily with Irrigation systems and most of the profit they do make is by this department alone. The company was started for the purpose of agriculture alone before going into light poles and other things. At least this is what I was told when working there ten years ago.

[ehenningsen]

yes they build irrigation systems, but you cannot build a fortune 500 company just on irrigation systems, Valmont also builds street light poles and other structures... irrigation is a segment, and if Valmont was to build every irrigation system in the world from here on out, that still would not make them even close to being a fortune 500 company...

[Cordor]

Hmm...that is a bit unfair then. So your saying that to be considered a part of the 500 company one would have to specialize in more than just one thing?