NEWS RELEASE

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Immediate Release:
Friday, September 11, 2009

Nebraska Corn Board contacts:

Nebraska Corn Board: 402.471.2676

Nebraska farmers looking at record production, yields

LINCOLN, NE — As farmers are gearing up for harvest, a record crop is waiting for them in corn fields across Nebraska.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated today that Nebraska corn farmers will bring in 1.55 billion bushels of corn this year and average 169.0 bushels per acre. Both numbers would be records – with production surpassing the 1.47 billion produced in 2007 and yields surpassing a record of 166 set in 2004.

“There should be no question that farmers are not only good at what they do, but that they are doing it better each and every year,” said Don Hutchens, executive director the Nebraska Corn Board. “Farmers in Nebraska and across the country are producing more bushels from the same acre of land than ever before, and in the process they are using fewer resources and doing it in an environmentally responsible way.”

The Nebraska Corn Board also noted that:

•    In four out of the last six years, Nebraska farmers have produced 160 bushels per acre or more. Prior to that, yields had never reached 160 bushels.
•    In five out of the last six years, Nebraska farmers have produced more than 1.2 billion bushels of corn. Prior to that, farmers only reached that level once.

National numbers follow similar trend lines, Hutchens said.

“We are at the brink of 13 billion bushels of corn nationally. We reached that figure in 2007 yet we’re right there again this year. The difference, though, is that farmers may produce about that much corn this year on 6 million fewer harvested acres,” Hutchens said. “There should be no question about whether corn farmers are capable of delivering enough production for food, feed and fuel for Americans, and still have corn to export to other countries, and even have a healthy reserve.”

Hutchens said claims of corn ethanol causing food price increases just don’t add up when corn prices are half last year’s record highs while ethanol production is at an all time high and headed toward 10.5 billion gallons by year-end.

“The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which funded and led a campaign last year against corn ethanol and farmers, was simply manufacturing myths,” Hutchens said. “Despite continuing evidence to the contrary, we continue to hear and see these messages being repeated. It is unfortunate that such myths and misinformation live on.”

“Farmers are adopting new technology – in seed, equipment and farming practices that have been producing record results, and the 2009 corn estimates are living proof of that,” Hutchens concluded.

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.

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