Nebraska Corn Board advances ‘Sustaining Innovation’ campaign

Building off a successful campaign conducted across Nebraska a year ago, the Nebraska Corn Board has created a new series of messages that feature several Nebraska farm families sharing facts about how today’s corn farmers are more sustainable than ever.

A delivery truck in Lincoln

The Sustaining Innovation campaign echoes a promotional campaign conducted in Washington, D.C., by the Corn Farmers Coalition, which is comprised of several state corn organizations, including those in Nebraska, and the National Corn Growers Association.

“We feel it is important to share positive messages about corn farming today to better help people understand just how far farmers have come in caring for the environment while producing a growing abundance of corn,” Curt Friesen, a farmer from Henderson who chairs the Nebraska Corn Board’s market development committee, said in a news release.

Some of the positive messages include the fact that American farmers have reduced the energy used to produce a bushel a corn by 37 percent over the past three decades and that farmers are producing 70 percent more corn per ounce of fertilizer than just 35 years ago.

A grain truck with Sustaining Innovation messaging.

Importantly, the messages also highlight the fact that 95 percent of all corn farms in the nation are family owned.

“We’re excited to be part of this campaign because we believe family corn farmers have made significant advancements to grow more corn per acre while requiring fewer inputs per bushel to do so,” said Chris Flaming, who is featured in one of the ads with his wife, Korene, and children. The Flamings farm near Elsie, Nebraska.

“People need to understand that it’s real families making their livelihood raising corn and that we’re doing the right things because we want our children to have an opportunity to farm, too,” Chris Flaming said.

The campaign is known as Sustaining Innovation because farmers are incredibly innovative and strive to continuously improve their productivity. “We really work to do a better job in every row, on every acre, on every farm, every season,” Friesen said.

One of the Sustaining Innovation ads featuring the
Flaming family of Elise, Nebraska.

“Increasing our productivity allows farmers to produce more corn with less land, less fertilizer and less chemicals,” he said. “It’s what allows us to raise enough corn to feed and help fuel the country.”

The campaign is already underway and will run through the rest of the year. It includes print advertising in select media outlets plus other activities, including large messages featuring real Nebraska corn farmers on delivery trucks in Lincoln and grain trucks in other parts of the state. The campaign also features radio spots and other sponsorships.

To view additional facts and some images used in the campaign, click here.