Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois Corn Visit Texas Customers

By Kelly Brunkhorst, Director of Research for the Nebraska Corn Board

Growers from the corn boards of Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois recently traveled to Texas to visit with customers and see firsthand the effects of the recent drought. Meetings with associations such as the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and Texas Corn Growers Association provided a great overview of the lingering effects that the 2011 drought has had on cattle numbers and corn production, along with issues that they are addressing on behalf of there membership.

Texas has always been an important customer to these three states due to their large cattle on feed numbers and corn demand that relies on out of state imports. In fact, if the corn produced in the panhandle area of Texas was used consecutively and not spread throughout the year, it would only last 2-3 months. We were able to visit with companies that import corn such as Gavilon and Sunray Coop and those that market distillers grains like Quality Distillers Grain, out of Hereford, TX to those end users such as Cactus Feeders.

Additionally with the drought situation we were able to meet with the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District that is tasked with monitoring and conserving ground water.

So following our meetings what were our take home points. Well no doubt, this area and the demand that it creates are an important market that we want to keep due to the strong use of corn in livestock and ethanol. The Midwest has a great infrastructure that is able to rail corn from the many elevators into this area and having this consistent supply is important to these customers. But the drought has had an impact. Corn production was down by 50-60 percent, many cows were culled, with some sent to the northern pastures of Nebraska since the grass never produced the forage that they need. This has created tight supplies of feeder cattle that will last a while.

But the area continues to be proactive and look to the future. The groundwater district is looking at research into what they call a 200-12 project. The goal is to produce 200 bushel per acre corn on just 12 inches of groundwater through conservation tillage, precision water application and other conservation practices. Research is also being done by cattle producers of maintaining cows and replacement heifers in lots versus range to build the herd back up. This all continues to provide opportunities and demand for corn whether it is as a kernel or in the form of distillers grains.

It was amazing to see the difference across two parts of this great nation this past year. On one hand we see the lingering effects of flooding along the Missouri River and on the opposite, the severe drought in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and other states.