Nebraska farm families recognized for participating in 'Sustaining Innovation'

Two Nebraska farm families were recognized at the Nebraska Corn Board meeting and dinner in Kearney on Tuesday night.

The Bergen family from Henderson, (top; joined by Nebraska Corn Board chairman Alan Tiemann on the left) and the Kimball family from Callaway, were present to receive recognition and a family picture for participating in the Corn Board's Sustaining Innovation campaign.

The two families’ roles in the campaign were to be “real-Nebraska farm family models” and be photographed on their farms. They then became the face of the campaign and helped share the many positive messages about farming and farmers today.

Other Nebraska farm families not present but who helped out with the campaign were the Beattie family from Sumner, the Flaming family and Robertson family from Elsie, the Cantrell family from Merna and the Long family from Grant.

The Sustaining Innovation campaign shows that through responsible stewardship, improved management practices and new genetics, Nebraska corn farmers are growing more corn with less – less fertilizer, less chemicals, less water, less land and less of an impact on the environment.

We’ve portrayed these family farmers on moving billboards on delivery trucks in Lincoln and on grain trailers across the state. They’ve also been on display at Aksarben’s River City Rodeo & Stock Show.

These Nebraska farm families are helping share agriculture’s story. You might be surprised to learn that:

• 95% of all corn farmers in America are family owned. (USDA)
• America’s corn farmers are by far the most productive in the world, growing 20% more corn per acre than any other nation. (USDA)
• Corn farmers cut erosion 44% in two decades thanks to new tillage methods. (USDA) 
• Thanks to new, innovative fertilization methods, today’s American corn farmers are producing 70% more corn per ounce of fertilizer. (USDA) 
• The energy used to grow a bushel of corn has fallen 37% over the past 30 years. (USDA) 
• Family farmers grow 90% of America’s corn crop. (USDA) 
• Corn was a bright spot in America’s economy last year – we exported $9 billion worth of corn! (USDA) 
• American farmers grow five times more corn than they did in the 1930s – on 20% less land! (USDA) 
• Farmers are using GPS-based precision technology to reduce overlaps in the field and to precisely place fertilizer and pesticides exactly where they need to be – and in exactly the right amounts. 
• Monitoring soil moisture levels and measuring the amount of water corn plants lose each day is helping Nebraska corn farmers significantly reduce irrigation and water demand. 
• While irrigation is used more widely in Nebraska, less than 14% of the total U.S. corn crop is supplemented with water via irrigation. The rest relies solely on rainfall. (USDA)
• Only 1% of the corn grown in the U.S. is sweet corn for humans. The rest is field corn used for livestock feed and ethanol.

There is no question: Corn farmers can do what America and the world is asking of them: Grow more corn for feed, food, fiber and fuel – and do it in a way that protects the environment and provides economic benefits all along the value chain.

Thank you again to the Bergen and Kimball families, as well as the other families who could not be at the dinner.