Beef deal benefits Nebraska corn crop

As US beef exports to China resume, Nebraska, the No 1 exporter of beef and beef products in the US, is optimistic that its biggest crop export - corn - also will benefit.

The state suffered a huge blow in 2014 when China banned genetically modified corn from the United States. Before that, the state was shipping millions of metric tons of corn to the country, but that dropped to between 150,000 and 200,000 tons last year.

About 95 percent to 97 percent of corn produced in Nebraska is genetically modified, but most of it consists of varieties that are now approved in China and other markets, said Kelly Brunkhorst, executive director at the Nebraska Corn Board.