It's been a big year for economic development projects in Nebraska. At the American Coalition for Ethanol's 30th annual conference, Gov. Pete Ricketts highlighted some of the most recent value-added agriculture developments in the state. That's coming off of 2016 — when Site Selection magazine awarded Nebraska the Governor's Cup for the most economic development projects.

Recent developments include the groundbreaking of Costco's $300 million poultry processing facility near Fremont — estimated to bring $1.2 billion to Nebraska's economy and just last week, the opening of Hendrix ISA's new $40 million hatchery in Grand Island.

Recently, Denmark-based Novozymes announced it will invest $36 million in its Blair facility, and Germany-based Evonik and its business partner, Royal DSM, announced they are investing $200 million to build a facility in the Blair Cargill campus to produce omega-3 fatty acids.

"All of these things help us continue to grow our economy. Value-added agriculture is one of the keys to be able to do that," Ricketts said at a press conference at the ACE meeting.

Ricketts pointed out that Nebraska's strong corn, ethanol and livestock production has been a draw for these companies to expand in the state and provide value-added opportunities for producers.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach noted Nebraska's livestock sector is also expanding. "We have seen over the last three years Nebraska's swine numbers have grown by about 16%. That's after being stagnant for about 15 years before then. That is outpacing the growth of swine in other states around us, as well as the nation as a whole," Ibach said. "Of course, our beef industry continues to be a strong part of our economy as well — the strongest part of our economy."

Completing Golden Triangle
David Bracht, director of the Nebraska Energy Office, noted renewable fuels play a part in value-added agriculture in Nebraska's "Golden Triangle" of corn, ethanol and livestock production. Nebraska ranks second in the country for ethanol production, and has 25 ethanol plants, representing a $5 billion investment.

Bracht noted that in the first six months of this year, the U.S. saw record exports of ethanol, and U.S. ethanol production continues to grow in 2017.

"Over the course of the last two years, the Nebraska Energy Office, the Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Corn Board, the Nebraska Ethanol Board — we've been working through the USDA Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership, trying to add more infrastructure so our Nebraska motorists have more access to higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85," Bracht said. "We'll be offering about $5 million for that infrastructure. Already in the last two years, we've added 70 pumps in the state that can have E15, and [with this investment] we expect to almost double the number of pumps offering E85 and E15."

As production continues to grow, Ricketts pointed out that Nebraska's 25 ethanol plants have been expanding. "In the past two years, companies in Jackson, Adams, Columbus, Kearney and Fairmont have invested $190 million in expanding their operations or improving them, creating more efficiencies, using less energy, less water to create more ethanol," he said.

"The ethanol industry is poised to grow and continues to grow," added Duane Kristensen, vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol and general manager at Chief Ethanol. "If you look at the investments the industry is making, not only in Nebraska but around the country, everyday somebody is announcing an expansion."