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A customer arrives at Behlen Mfg. Co. in 2017. The locally owned business recently announced an agreement with the Wisconsin-based, Freeland Industries, which mean more jobs available at Behlen. 

COLUMBUS -- Behlen's acquisition of Freeland Industries and Freeland Trucking will make it possible for the Columbus-headquartered company to expand its product offering, Behlen Country President Jen Miller said.

Columbus residents will see the impact later this year. The agreement could mean more jobs, as well as offering Freeland’s products to local retailers, Miller said.

Behlen Manufacturing Co. announced recently it signed an agreement with Freeland Industries Inc. and Freeland Trucking Inc., based in Portage, Wisconsin, to acquire the company’s industrial tank and feeder assets.

“Their customers are very similar to ours, and some of them are the same customers as ours but because we don’t make those items, they get them from Freeland," Miller said.

Behlen Country is a business unit of Behlen Manufacturing Co. with an emphasis on livestock equipment. Freeland Industries is a family-owned company established in 1909. The business manufactures steel stock tanks, hog troughs, creep feeders and structural foam plastic tanks.

The agreement has the potential to create three to seven jobs in the Columbus area to help with delivering shipments. 

Freeland Trucking, which was established in 1983, and Behlen’s own transportation unit, BMC Transportation, will combine to support the expanding customer business, products and timely deliveries.

Nebraska regularly leads the nation in beef exports. The state's cattle ranchers send more than $1 billion in beef overseas each year. 

Exports of combines edged out corn in 2017, with the state sending $431 million worth of combine harvesters overseas that year. 

It should be no surprise that the Cornhusker state sells a lot of corn. In 2017, Nebraska exported $430 million worth of corn. 

Along with corn, soybeans are the state's big crop. Altogether, Nebraska exported about half a billion dollars' worth of soybeans and soybean products in 2017.

Nebraska's natural gas exports fluctuate year to year, but it's consistently among the state's top exports. In 2017, the state exported $211 million worth of gas.

Cattle is king in Nebraska, but producers like this family farm in Osmond, Nebraska, still export more than $350 million of pork products each year. 

They may not seem like a Nebraska product, but the state exports more than $100 million in syringes each year. One reason? Medical technology company Becton Dickinson has multiple plants in Nebraska and employs about 2,500 people in the state.

Nebraska's main non-agriculture export is nuclear components, which totaled $920 million in 2019.

Chemicals are among Nebraska's fastest-growing exports. The state sent $372 million worth overseas in 2019, a 403% increase from 2010.

Andrew Kiser is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at andrew.kiser@lee.net.

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A customer arrives at Behlen Mfg. Co. in 2017. The locally owned business recently announced an agreement with the Wisconsin-based, Freeland Industries, which mean more jobs available at Behlen. 

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