November 29, 2007

Ethanol consumes 37 percent of Nebraska's corn

Nebraska's ethanol production uses around 500 million bushels of corn or 37 percent of the area's corn produce.

Corn prices have increased by about 70 percent due to the growing demand from ethanol production, according to Todd Sneller of Nebraska Ethanol Board.

Sneller pointed that in 1971, the huge corn surplus depressed prices and severely limited the value of corn. The livestock industry purchased a third of the annual production, while the rest was exported.

Now, Nebraska plants use 514 million bushels of corn annually to produce 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol.

By the end of 2008, Nebraska plants will process 860 million bushels into 2.3 billion gallons of ethanol, according to ethanol board.

National ethanol production is projected to reach 7.5 billion gallons in 2007 and use 2.7 billion bushels of corn and other commodities.

Nebraska presently ranks 37th among the states in total motor fuel consumption and averaged bout 0.5 percent of US sales over the last few years.