While most of the Midwest is losing farms to consolidation, two states buck the trend

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recently released Census of Agriculture showed that from 2007 to 2012 the number of U.S. farms declined by nearly 100,000. Midwestern states lost 29,000. The number of farms decreased by 11 percent in Wisconsin, 8.1 percent in Minnesota and 6.8 percent in Michigan. North Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio also experienced losses. But two states, Nebraska and South Dakota, saw growth, with the number of farms in Nebraska increasing by 4.7 percent and in South Dakota by 2.6 percent.

Nebraska, which has the nation's youngest average age of farmers, 55.7 years, compared to the national average of 58.3, had one of the biggest increases of any state and recently became the nation's No. 1 cattle-feeding state, Kate Tormey reports for Stateline Midwest. "Livestock production and a strong ethanol industry provide a ready market for Nebraska’s large corn supply, and the state also boasts a wide range of companies that use the commodities its farmers produce."

"Policymakers, meanwhile, have established several programs to promote the industry, with one emphasis being support for young farmers," Tormey writes. Nebraskans who rent land, livetsock or equipment to a new farmer can get a 10 percent income tax credit, and other programs help students "learn how to create successful business plans and ranch-transfer programs."

Nebraska also has a program that allows 26 of the state's 93 counties to participate in the Livestock Friendly County program, "which requires local officials to streamline certain zoning and siting rules," Tormey reports.