USDA Information
Saline, Jefferson, and Gage counties are located in southeast Nebraska. The three counties are part of the southeast Nebraska or USDA crop reporting district number 90.
In 2017, the USDA Ag Census showed there was 1.25 million acres of land in 2,495 farms across the three counties. The average farm size was 454, 503, and 608 acres in Gage, Saline, and Jefferson counties, correspondingly.
Read more about each of the counties in the following county profiles from USDA:
Crops
In 2020, the estimated number of acres harvested for each of the major cash crops across Gage, Jefferson, and Saline counties:
- Corn – 475,266 acres (36.9%)
- Soybeans – 402,997 acres (31.3%)
- Alfalfa – 19,321 acres (1.5%)
- Wheat – 6,997 acres (0.5%)
- Oats – 1,639 acres (0.1%)
- Sorghum – 1,593 acres (0.1%)
- Pasture – 226,683 (17.6%)
- Other uses (14%)
Facts:
- In 2019, Gage County is the largest producer of soybeans in Nebraska in terms of total bushels and total acres grown.
- Based on the 2017 Ag Census, over 50% of farms are using no-till as a land use practice
Native Vegetation
The native vegetation was primarily tallgrass prairie with some riparian deciduous forest along the Big Blue and Little Blue rivers and some scattered upland deciduous forests on steeper sloping landscapes. There was some gravelly mixed-grass prairies along the Little Blue River in Jefferson County.
Soils
The area is divided or in the transition areas of soil moisture regimes according to USDA-NRCS with Udic Ustic soils predominately in Saline and Jefferson counties and Udic soil moisture regime to the east in Gage County.
The most common soil series in Gage County is Wymore Silty Clay Loam that covers 38% of the land area and formed from Peorian Loess. The most common soil series in Saline and Jefferson counties is Crete Silt Loam and Silty Clay Loam that covers 43% of the land area and formed from Peorian Loess. Learn more about these and other soil series at USDA-NRCS Official Soil Series Descriptions
Topography
In Saline, Jefferson, and Gage counties, the highest elevation point is north of Tobias 4 miles at 1660 ft about sea level and the lowest elevation about 1160 ft at the Big Blue River at the Nebraska-Kansas State line. The highest elevation area and surrounding hills and ravines in Saline County do not have an official name, but I call the area the “Loveland Hills” since some of the hillside soils were formed in the reddish parent material called Loveland loess. The Loveland hills do not have adequate aquifers for irrigation like the surrounding area.
One unique landscape aspect of the region includes the northeastern edge of the Smoky Hills composed of Dakota Sandstone, Greenhorn Limestone, Graneros Shale. It is most obvious when driving southwest of Fairbury on Hwy 15 or 8 in Jefferson County. That area is specifically called the Rose Creek Escarpment. There are also few rocky outcrops in central Gage County south of Beatrice in an area called Iron Mountain. Southeast Gage County is the northern extent of the Flints Hills with limestone outcrops visible.