Immediate Release:
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Nebraska Corn Board contacts:
Randy Klein: 800.632.6761
Nebraska corn groups to feature Kernels of Truth at State Fair
LINCOLN, NE – The Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Corn Growers Association have partnered to bring Kernels of Truth to the Nebraska State Fair this year.
Kernels of Truth includes a series of messages designed to explain the value of corn in common products at the grocery store. Messages also include the farmer value of those specific products.
“We’ve designed the booth space located in the State Fair Ground’s Ag Hall to be interactive and allow people to guess the value of corn in a product, like a gallon of milk, and then guess how much money the farmer receives for that product,” said Randy Klein, director of market development for the Nebraska Corn Board. “For example, when corn is $5 a bushel, there’s only 16 cents of corn in a gallon of milk. The dairy farmer only receives $1.55 for the same gallon that’s sold in the store for about $4.00.”
Klein said the goal is to help spread the truth on the farm value of food products, and let people know that farmers don’t receive a big share of the food dollar. “The cost of some grain commodities have risen over the last couple of years, but those prices do not significantly impact retail prices,” he said. “Instead, many studies have demonstrated that high oil and energy prices are the main culprit behind higher food costs because it takes a lot of energy to make, process and transport food.”
That’s why the booth will include information on how much diesel it takes to bring a product to market, and that the reliance on foreign oil is not good for the economy.
“Our dependence on foreign oil is not only dangerous, but it is costing us billions of dollars – more than $650 billion this year alone,” said Randy Uhrmacher, president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. “We need to break our reliance on foreign oil and keep those dollars in the United States. One of the ways to do that is with renewable ethanol.”
As part of its efforts, the groups will be distributing jar openers in the shape of a corn kernel and grocery shopping lists. Both will contain Kernel of Truth messages.
The Nebraska Corn Board is a self-help program, funded and managed by Nebraska corn farmers. Producers invest in the program at a rate of 1/4 of a cent per bushel of corn sold. Nebraska corn checkoff funds are invested in programs of market development, research and education.
The Nebraska Corn Growers Association is a grassroots commodity organization that works to enhance the profitability of corn producers. Now in its 36th year of service to its members, NeCGA has more than 1,800 dues paying members in Nebraska. NeCGA is affiliated with the NCGA, which has more than 31,000 dues paying members nationwide.
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