Corn on the Hoof | Promoting
Meat Exports | Helping the
Pork Industry | Expanding Opportunities | Researching
Distiller Grains | Ethanol: Nebraska's
Homegrown Fuel |
Pumping Up Ethanol Sales | California
Dreamin' | Bio-Plastics
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The U.S. livestock industry is
far and away the most important customer for Nebraska
corn and corn co-products like distillers grains.
Market intelligence figures show that more than 40
percent of the corn produced in Nebraska is fed
directly to livestock somewhere in the U.S. More
than half of that (22% of the total) is consumed
by cattle, hogs, poultry and dairy cattle right
here in Nebraska. Another significant amount goes to California, primarily for
dairy cattle and poultry feeding. And those corn-feeding
numbers don’t include the skyrocketing usage
of distillers grains and gluten feed, co-products
of ethanol production.
Recognizing the major impact that livestock has
on Nebraska corn consumption, the Nebraska Corn
Board funds several organizations and projects
that are working to maintain a strong livestock
industry in Nebraska and across the United States. |
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 The U.S. Meat Export Federation
(USMEF) is a nonprofit trade association working to create
new opportunities and develop existing international
markets for U.S. beef, pork, lamb and veal. In 1979,
the Nebraska Corn Board became one of the first members
of the newly formed USMEF. Since that time, Nebraska
corn producers have invested more than $5 million
in supporting USMEF efforts.
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 In Nebraska, the pork industry
consumes about six percent of the state’s corn
production. However, the long-term trend line
on hog production in Nebraska has not been positive.
Since 1992, the state has lost nearly 10,000 pork producers
and some 1.7 million animals. The Nebraska Corn Board
continues to work with the Nebraska Pork Producers Association to identify ways to reverse the decline in hog feeding
in Nebraska.
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 Nebraska’s livestock and poultry producers contribute billions of dollars to the state’s economy, adding value to many local feed ingredients like corn and corn co-products, and using local labor and services. Supporting – and growing – the state’s livestock and poultry industry, in turn, supports corn producers by maintaining and expanding the number-one market for corn and corn co-products. This is why Nebraska Corn Board became a founding supporter of the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN). Helping new livestock and poultry producers get started or existing producers expand, A-FAN is helping Nebraska farmers protect and preserve the quality of life in rural communities through the development of responsible livestock production.
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 Considerable
research has been conducted on using distillers grains,
the co-product of ethanol production, as a feed ingredient.
Feeding trials conducted at UN-L, and supported with
corn checkoff dollars, have given cattle feeders important
information about using distillers grains. The Nebraska
Corn Board estimates that more than 3 million metric
tons of distillers grains are produced in Nebraska.
That number is expected to top 4 million metric tons
in 2010. Based on current livestock numbers, the Nebraska
Corn Board estimates the potential to use 3 million to 4 million
metric tons of distillers grains annually in the future.
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 The fastest
growing segment of corn usage is the ethanol industry.
In 2007-08, corn processing for ethanol, sweeteners
and starches was expected to use 40% of the state’s corn production. That figure has tripled since 2000, primarily due to ethanol expansion.
Nebraska’s ethanol industry consumed an estimated
480 million bushels of corn in 2007-08. With several new
plants expected to begin operations in the next two years,
and expansion plans at some existing plants, analysts
predict the amount of corn going into ethanol production
in Nebraska could exceed 650 million bushels in the near
future.
Your checkoff dollars have supported the efforts of
the National Corn Growers Association to help create
national policy that fosters ethanol development—including
the establishment of a unique coalition of the oil industry,
environmental groups and farm organizations to develop
a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that would increase
the amount of ethanol in the nation’s transportation
fuel supply.
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 The Nebraska Corn Board has also been instrumental in boosting the demand for ethanol in the state. Working in partnership with the Nebraska Ethanol Board and the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, the Nebraska Corn Board helped fund the “Let’s Get With It, Nebraska!” campaign to increase the use of E10 – gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol. The Nebraska Corn Board has also promoted the use of E85, which is an 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline blend. With its “Powering Nebraska’s Economy with Corn” campaign, the Nebraska Corn Board touted the facts about corn and ethanol production and its positive impact on the state. Although numbers can vary by month, by the end of 2007, ethanol-blended gasoline had a 70 percent market share in Nebraska, double the market share that existed for ethanol-blended gasoline in 2000.
 The Nebraska Corn Board is also optimistic about the
continued expansion of E85 in Nebraska. E85 is
the term for motor fuel blends of 85 percent ethanol
and just 15 percent ordinary unleaded gasoline. The Nebraska
Corn Board supports the use of ethanol-diesel, a blend
of ethanol and diesel fuel that can help reduce air pollution
in both mass transit and off-road applications.
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 In the “domestic” export category, California
is currently the largest market for Nebraska corn. About 145 million bushels of Nebraska corn were sold to
California in the most recent marketing year. In fact,
Nebraska corn sales to California have increased steadily
since 2001, when they totaled just more than 83 million bushels.
According to market intelligence gathered by the Nebraska
Corn Board and ProExporter Network, the majority of Nebraska
corn used outside the state is shipped to California
for use in the dairy and poultry industries. However,
there is also growing demand for ethanol in California,
which is also good news for Nebraska corn growers.
Corn-to-ethanol plants
in operation or planned are near millions of dairy cattle
that can consume the wet distillers grains and provide a new domestic market for Nebraska corn.
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 For many years, corn checkoff dollars
have been invested through both the University of Nebraska
and the National Corn Growers Association to support
the research and development of bio-based plastics.
These research efforts were instrumental in the development
of a corn-based polylactic acid (PLA), a polymer now
used in the production of everything from compostable
dinnerware to shampoo bottles to carpet tiles.
Corn-based PLA has the advantage of being biodegradable
and offers fabric makers a material with more natural
characteristics than petroleum-based products. The PLA-products
completely degrade in a composting environment. Better
yet, the production of these bioproducts generates less
greenhouse gas than traditional petroleum-based items.
Perhaps the best news of all for Nebraska corn producers
is that the PLA used in these bioproducts is made in
Nebraska at the Cargill plant in Blair. The Blair plant
uses more than 40,000 bushels of corn every day in the production
of PLA.
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