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Flood relief efforts continue; damaged rail lines affect ethanol production

State and federal officials provided an update on flood relief efforts in Nebraska during a roundtable discussion Monday in Lincoln.

USDA undersecretary Greg Ibach, a former Nebraska director of agriculture, said the Livestock Indemnity Program will help cover livestock losses, but he said loss of stored grain is something that Congress would have to include as part of a disaster program.

“The Secretary (Sonny Perdue) said last week that he hoped Congress would take a look at adding to the disaster program they were working on, for last fall’s hurricanes and other considerations, to include the Midwest,” Ibach says.

Nebraska’s ethanol industry is another casualty of the damage caused by the massive flooding. Troy Bredenkamp with Renewable Fuels Nebraska, says ethanol production has been cut more than 20 percent because of damage to rail lines.

“That problem isn’t a quick fix either,” Bredenkamp says. “Some of those plants are in a situation where it might be two to three weeks, they’re being told by the railroad, before they will get their area and repair those lines.”

Bredenkamp says feedlots that rely on distillers grains from those plants are also being affected.

AUDIO: Troy Bredenkamp