Nebraska Corn Board Press Release
LINCOLN, Neb. – A new fiscal year is underway at the Nebraska Corn Board, and with it comes a lineup of new and growing initiatives funded through the corn checkoff for 2026-2027. Every dollar is directed through NCB’s strategic plan, which organizes checkoff investments around four pillars: education, promotion, market development and research, with a clear focus on the return those investments generate for Nebraska corn farmers and the state’s economy.
NCB continues to collaborate with state, national and international partners like the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (AFAN), National Corn Growers Association, U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council and U.S. Meat Export Federation to drive demand and increase the value of Nebraska corn.
Education and Promotion
For 2026-2027, NCB is expanding its partnership with the Omaha Supernovas, continuing for the second year a “Farmers’ Appreciation Night” featured match, season-long court signage and a branded media backdrop activation that deepens NCB’s reach with fans across 180-plus Nebraska communities and 40 states through live events and broadcast visibility.
NCB is also continuing its partnership with Agriculture in the Classroom, partnering to extend the program’s reach into underserved communities; last year the program reached more than 19,700 students through 1,102 lessons and trained 425 educators.
NCB is also partnering with the Big Ten Network to share the message of homegrown ethanol and E15 with nearly 30 million viewers nationwide. These partnerships and others continue to broaden NCB’s reach in support of market development and research.
Market Development
Market development programs continue driving demand for Nebraska corn through ethanol, trade and livestock expansion and emerging market opportunities. Efforts include supporting ethanol infrastructure in Nebraska and key markets such as California, where demand for E85 continues to grow. Last year, these efforts helped 22 Nebraska locations add higher ethanol blends, intending to add 25 more this year. In California, NCB is working with Pearson Fuels to expand its network to 550 E85 locations across the West Coast.
In partnership with the Nebraska Ethanol Board, NCB will continue demonstrations exploring E30 in non-flex-fuel vehicles. The project has used more than 737,000 gallons of E30 to demonstrate vehicles can operate on higher ethanol blends. Additional research is evaluating fuel retail rewards programs to increase E15 purchases, following an initial study that found 41% of participants continued purchasing E15 after the promotion ended.
Beyond on-road transportation, NCB continues to evaluate ethanol opportunities in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and maritime shipping, where feasibility work indicates the industry could create demand for more than 5-6 billion gallons of ethanol annually.
Livestock development remains a key priority, with continued support for AFAN and specific projects that expand demand for corn through beef, swine, poultry and dairy sectors. Over the past two years, 24.6 million bushels of new demand have strengthened Nebraska’s value-added opportunities.
As global trade continues to evolve, Nebraska Corn remains committed to engaging with the current trade dynamics at play. Nebraska Corn will be hosting 3 international trade delegations over the next several months to educate international customers overseas and strengthen relationships, in addition to engaging with several other international representatives as they tour Nebraska. U.S. exports of corn and ethanol are on pace to set back-to-back record years.
Research
NCB is actively driving demand and profitability for Nebraska corn and ethanol. Six new end-use projects spanning biobased polymer coatings, industrial chemicals, and human nutrition are in development with the potential to unlock more than 2.5 billion bushels of additional annual demand. On the feed side, today’s favorable distillers grain prices create a strategic opening to grow market share in cattle rations, supported by both biological and economic evidence.
For farmers battling rising input costs, two key programs are delivering real ROI. The Nebraska Nitrogen Initiative empowers farmers to conduct N-rate small plot trials, bringing data-driven precision to nitrogen decisions that can vary by as much as 100% from field to field and year to year, turning information into savings. Precision Conservation Management has expanded to two new Nebraska regions. This free agronomic service analyzes farm data to identify exactly which management decisions are profitable and which aren’t. Growers even receive $500 in year one for participating.
NCB is committed to being a strategic partner in Nebraska’s growing bioeconomy. Six new end-use projects spanning biobased polymer coatings, corn-derived industrial chemicals and precision human nutrition are in development, with the potential to unlock more than 2.5 billion bushels of additional annual demand. Corn-derived industrial chemicals are a particularly active area of research, as these compounds feed into thousands of everyday products in markets currently dominated by petroleum-derived alternatives. NCB is funding research that moves beyond proof of concept to focus on scaling and commercialization.
“This year’s investments reflect our commitment to putting Nebraska corn in front of more farmers and consumers in more targeted places than ever before,” said Andy Groskopf, chairman of NCB. “Every checkoff dollar is directed toward programs proven to deliver a return, whether that’s building new markets for our grain, strengthening consumer trust, or reaching the next generation of Nebraskans. We’re confident these partnerships in promotion, market development and research will keep Nebraska corn, and our farmers, moving forward.”
Learn more about the programs funded by the Nebraska Corn Board at nebraskacorn.gov.
The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff investment of a 1-cent-per-bushel on all corn marketed in the state and is managed by nine farmer directors. The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board is to increase the value and sustainability of Nebraska corn through promotion, market development and research.
