Nebraska’s Golden Flows

Another interesting aspect of the Xiaowen Lin et al. study were the estimates of corn flows between counties which were part of the analysis. Figure 2 illustrates corn flows between counties in several Midwest and Plains states including Nebraska and was taken from the study.

Darker and wider lines indicate heavier corn flows. The map clearly illustrates the flows of corn from Iowa into Washington County due to the Cargill facility. Also, corn flows between several eastern Nebraska counties like Platte, Dodge, Cuming, Saunders, and York counties are also heavy presumably due to the processing, livestock, and corn production concentrated in these counties. Finally, it also appears corn flows between Nebraska counties are much heavier relative to the other states on the map. Again, this is likely due to the corn processing and livestock sectors in the state.

Figure 2. Corn flows between counties in Midwest States and Nebraska

Source: Food flows between counties in the United States, Xiaowen Lin et al 2019 Environ. Res. Lett. 14 084011