COZAD, Neb. (AP) – A western Nebraska farmer whose tractor was struck by a train managed to survive the collision. Dawson County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hudson said that the crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday evening. The farmer was trying to cross the tracks about three miles east of Cozad in his John Deere tractor while pulling a baler. The train hit the tractor. Hudson says the farmer suffered head injuries in the crash, but those are not believed to be life-threatening. The farmer’s name and condition were not immediately available Friday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – New Census estimates show that Nebraska’s population grew at a faster rate than the total U.S. population for two years in a row between 2008 and 2010. Nebraska’s population grew nearly 1 percent to 1.83 million between July 2009 and July 2010. During that same span, the U.S. population posted its smallest growth since 1945 by increasing only 0.84 percent to 309.35 million. University of Nebraska at Omaha Census researcher David Drozd says this is the first time that Nebraska’s growth rate has exceeded the national one two years in a row. Drozd says Nebraska’s population growth rate improved partly because the state’s economy remained relatively strong while the nation was going through the worst recession since the Great Depression.

ATKINSON, Neb. (AP) – Nebraskans will have another chance to comment on the proposed pipeline that would carry Canadian oil across the Great Plains to refineries in Texas. The U.S. State Department is planning to hold a second hearing on the $7 billion Keystone XL project in Nebraska’s Sandhills on Thursday. The event from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. is likely to significantly increase Atkinson’s population because the first hearing in Lincoln earlier this week attracted several hundred people. TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL project would cross Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. TransCanada also has proposed connecting it to the Bakken oil field in Montana and North Dakota. The pipeline’s proposed route crosses the massive underground Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water for irrigation and drinking to people in eight U.S. states.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska agriculture officials are concerned that cattle imported into the state from drought-stricken areas of Texas and Oklahoma could bring diseases with them, so they are encouraging ranchers to follow import rules. State Agriculture Director Greg Ibach said Wednesday that officials have begun quarantining herds if ranchers haven’t followed import rules. The Agriculture Department is concerned that cattle from southern states could be infected with trichomoniasis. That disease can cause infertility and miscarriages in cattle. Ranchers must be able to prove the cattle they import are disease-free. Ibach says any Nebraska cattle producers who are thinking about importing animals should contact the state veterinarian’s office to make sure they understand the restrictions. More information is available on the Agriculture Department’s website, www.agr.ne.gov.