'An utter disaster': Ag losses from Nebraska flooding could top $1 billion

The Nebraska Farm Bureau president says farm and ranch losses to the devastating flooding could reach $1 billion in the state. President Steve Nelson estimates $400 million on crop losses because of crops that will be planted late — if at all. He also estimates up to $500 million in livestock losses as the state struggles with swollen rivers and breached or overtopped levees following heavy rain and snowmelt. He told the Omaha World-Herald , "That gets us close to a billion dollars. I would not be surprised to see the lost agriculture numbers go over a billion dollars. ..."Agriculture amounts to 20 percent of the state's gross domestic product and provides one of every four jobs.