Winter wheat represents Nebraska's third largest crop after corn and soybean and a keystone in Nebraska's agricultural economy. At an average price of $3.14 per bushel, USDA estimated the value of Nebraska's 2016 wheat harvest at $219,294,000.
While some wheat is grown in each USDA reporting district, the vast majority (82%) of the state's winter wheat crop is grown in western Nebraska (Table 1).

Year | Northwest District (Panhandle) | Southwest District | South Central District | Southeast District | Central District | East Central District | North Central District | Northeast District |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acres Harvested 2016 |
665,000 | 410,500 | 129,890 | 60,720 | 16,950 | 11,720 | 9,220 | 6,000 |
Percent of Total Harvest 2016 |
51% | 31% | 10% | 5% | 1% |
Year | All Wheat (bu) | Rainfed Production (bu) | Irrigated Production (bu) | Yield - All Wheat (bu/ac) | Yield - Rainfed (bu/ac) | Yield - Irrigated Wheat (bu/ac) | All Area Planted (acres) | All Area Harvested (acres) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 61,200,000 | 46,795,000 | 14,405,000 | 36.0 | 31.5 | 67.0 | 1,800,000 | 1,700,000 |
2007 | 84,280,000 | 67,460,000 | 16,820,000 | 43.0 | 40.4 | 58.0 | 2,050,000 | 1,960,000 |
2008 | 73,480,000 | 60,548,000 | 12,932,000 | 41.5 | 44.0 | 61.0 | 1,750,000 | 1,670,000 |
2009* | 77,280,000 | 65,824,000 | 11,456,000 | 46.0 | 48.0 | 64.0 | 1,700,000 | 1,610,000 |
2010 | 64,070,000 | 56,872,000 | 7,198,000 | 43.0 | 41.6 | 59.0 | 1,600,000 | 1,490,000 |
2011 | 66,600,000 | 56,130,000 | 10,470,000 | 42.2 | 45.0 | 69.3 | 1,550,000 | 1,480,000 |
2012 | 53,300,000 | 46,500,000 | 6,800,000 | 38.9 | 41.0 | 65.4 | 1,370,000 | 1,300,000 |
2013 | 39,900,000 | 29,400,000 | 10,500,000 | 35.0 | 30.0 | 65.6 | 1,470,000 | 1,140,000 |
2014 | 71,050,000 | 59,608,000 | 11,442,000 | 49.0 | 45.1 | 81.1 | 1,550,000 | 1,450,000 |
2015 | 45,980,000 | 35,716,000 | 10,264,000 | 38.0 | 33.9 | 65.4 | 1,490,000 | 1,210,000 |
2016 | 70,740,000 | 59,904,000 | 10,836,000 | 54.0 | 51.2 | 77.4 | 1,370,000 | 1,310,000 |
2017 (est) | 46,000,000 | 46.0 | 1,110,000 |