| Nebraska, with 24 operating ethanol plants, is the second-largest ethanol producing state. It stands to reason that ethanol production would have a significant economic impact on the state. A recent report by economists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research and the Department of Agricultural Economics, sponsored by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, shows ethanol production does indeed provide a boost to the state’s economy. According to the report, ethanol production in 2020 resulted in an overall economic impact on the state of $4.41 billion making it the third-largest agricultural industry behind corn and cattle production (Figure 1). Nebraska’s ethanol industry produced 1.85 billion gallons of ethanol in 2020 with a value, along with co-products (distillers’ grains and corn oil), of $3.433 billion (Figure 2). Employment in the sector was 1,758 jobs with total jobs when multiplier effects were considered at 8,000. The report also notes corn producers received an average increase of $.09/bushel in the price of corn when selling to an ethanol producer. Much of the ethanol and coproducts produced in Nebraska are sold out of state. Surveys suggest 94 percent of ethanol production, 38 percent of dried distillers’ grain, and 46 percent of corn oil produced is exported out of the state. According to the report, this “represents a direct economic impact to the state by bringing new money into Nebraska’s economy.” Nebraska’s ethanol sector is an example of the interdependence of crop and livestock production and processing sectors in the state. Agriculture producers, processors, rural communities, and the state all benefit from the synergies between production and processing. |
FIGURE 1. COMPARATIVE VALUES OF PRODUCTION Source: Economic Impacts of the Nebraska Ethanol and Co-Products Industry, 2020. Kathleen Brooks, Tim Meyer and Cory Walters, Department of Agricultural Economics, Eric Thompson, Bureau of Business Research, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2024.FIGURE 2. VALUE OF ETHANOL AND CO-PRODUCTS PRODUCTION IN NEBRASKA Source: Economic Impacts of the Nebraska Ethanol and Co-Products Industry, 2020. Kathleen Brooks, Tim Meyer and Cory Walters, Department of Agricultural Economics, Eric Thompson, Bureau of Business Research, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2024. |
