- Video shows Nebraska cattle herds and farmers during harvest.
- While the latest trade deal between the US and the UK might not make up the ground that trade partners like Mexico and Canada could, Agriculture industry leaders say it is an important first step to expanding Nebraska exports to European markets.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Since President Trump kicked off his latest trade war there hasn’t been much good news for our farmers and ranchers.
But this past week, things started to look up for the Ag industry.
“We are excited and pleased, we have been working on this for a long time,” said Buck Wehrbein, the feedlot manager for Mead Cattle Company and the National President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
For cattlemen the latest deal with the UK is seeing exports quotas on tariff free beef jump from 1,000 metric tons to 13,000 tons per year.
Its a solid start but breaking down the numbers the new deal with the UK deal might not have a huge impact on Nebraska specifically.
According to the US Census Bureau Nebraska exports to the UK totaled a little over $87 million in 2024.
For comparison, the total exports to our two biggest trade partners Canada and Mexico totaled $1.6 and $1.7 billion dollars in 2024.
But the UK is one of Nebraska’s biggest partners in one of our leading industries.
“Exports from the US of ethanol to other countries, they were number two behind Canada. With about 250 million gallons of US ethanol going there,” said Ben Rhodes, Executive Director for the Nebraska Ethanol Board.
Rhodes tells me that the estimated $700 million dollars in ethanol exports coming from the deal is nothing to sneeze at but what he says is just as valuable, seeing Ethanol become a major interest in trade negotiations.
“I hope this UK deal sets a good precedent that for future trade deals we are gonna see more and more ethanol inclusion,” said Rhodes.
This renewed interest in ethanol in Europe is coming at a good time for the industry. Recent years have seen 19 countries in Europe, including the UK, adopt higher ethanol blends.
While the total numbers might not be the silver bullet to solve all of the industry's trade woes, Rhodes and Wehrbein expect the new trade deal to keep building momentum and demand for Nebraska products.
“Several countries, a lot of the countries in Europe have moved from E5 to E10 or E0 to E5 so, this trade deal is a great sign we are continuing that relationship. Strengthening it now and looking ahead,” said Rhodes.
“We think this could be a first step. And it is a natural one for a country we share so much history and culture with,” said Wehrbein
