Nebraska Corn Board

Our firm is proud to serve as the agency of record for the Nebraska Corn Board (NCB). In this capacity, we oversee strategy and execution for a variety of the board’s marketing/advertising efforts.

The Nebraska corn checkoff is a self-help investment program designed to help develop, carry out and participate in programs of research, education, market development and promotion to enhance profitability (viability) and expand the demand and value of Nebraska corn and value-added corn products.

These programs encompass two key stakeholder target audiences — consumers and producers.

Consumer Outreach

As our nation’s urban areas grow, consumers in the grocery store are increasingly separated from the producers who grow the meat, fruit and vegetables they buy. As a result, this growing knowledge gap has become filled with pseudoscience and misinformation about modern agriculture.

We are proud to partner with NCB to tackle this communication challenge head-on. One of the primary vehicles NCB is using for direct consumer outreach is a publication called CornsTalk.

This engaging publication is distributed in print to every newspaper (weekly/daily) subscriber in the state of Nebraska, as well as online to thousands of consumers and producers. We create this digital/print content from start to finish including research, strategy, expert interviews, design and publication.

Sustainability Defined

In spring 2020 we took on the subject of “sustainability.” Our goal was to show the ag industry is not only taking action to achieve global sustainability – it is experiencing measurable results. Every year Nebraska corn farmers are growing more with less – less water, fewer chemicals and a lower impact on the environment. Our team transformed research and expert interviews into compelling creative that shed light on topics such as cover crops, irrigation, cow manure and pollinator habitats. These stories were printed and distributed to every newspaper subscriber in Nebraska.

We also implemented a digital strategy that brought the online CornsTalk content to over 400,000 Nebraskans on Facebook alone and served over 16 million impressions across all digital platforms.

Connecting consumers to producers

We’re continuing to build on our consumer education strategy by taking a deeper look at food, where it comes from, and addressing questions consumers have surrounding the topic. This fall we are partnering with like-minded Nebraska groups to provide opportunities for consumers to tour farms and ask questions they have surrounding food and farming. Our goal with this upcoming project is to provide an authentic environment for consumers to ask questions and get answers directly from farmers. Content around this series will be available later this fall.

Producer Sellback

It’s critical farmers know their check-off dollar contributions (½ cent per bushel of all corn marketed in Neb.) are being used proactively to capitalize on opportunities for Nebraska corn producers.

One way to do this is by explaining how checkoff dollars are being used to discover new uses (and markets) for corn. For example, we’ve highlighted how Dr. Mark Wilkins, the Corn Checkoff Presidential Chair (a faculty position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln funded by NCB), is discovering and developing new ways to bring value to corn by creating new renewable plastic products.

In addition to scientific research, we actively look for ways to highlight NCB funded partnerships. Investments in groups such as Field to Market, Farmers for Monarchs, Soil Health Partnership and Renewable Fuels Association (to name a few) work for Nebraska corn farmers by creating more sustainable farming practices which benefit the environment and future generations.