Issues History - Production & Stewardship

While NCGA has always kept close watch over production and stewardship issues, it was not until recently that work on such issues expanded dramatically. A department dedicated solely to production and stewardship issues was formed in 1994. But as far back as the 1960s, NCGA monitored crop quality, production pests and transportation options. Limited resources in the early years were devoted to membership and representation for the upstart organization.

QUALITY

NCGA's first organized involvement in production issues occurred in 1962, when a corn disease committee was appointed by President Walter Goeppinger to work with Iowa State University researchers. Early work led to a 1969 NCGA-sponsored Corn Quality and Standards Conference, held in Des Moines, Iowa, and a cooperative agreement between NCGA and Iowa State to work on the Corn Quality project. About the same time, NCGA became began supporting research on crop inputs and advocating studies on farm chemicals to determine impact and effectiveness.

Corn quality was revisited periodically during the 1970s and 1980s. NCGA leaders met with grain quality expert, Lowell Hill, from the University of Illinois in 1975, to keep abreast of the latest quality concerns both domestically and abroad. Marion Hartman, NCGA grower research vice president in 1986, put grain quality standards in perspective during testimony in Washington D.C.

"The dramatic slide in corn exports this decade is related to many things, only one of which is quality," he said. "We must always remember, once quality is lost, it can never be regained."

TRANSPORTATION

While corn growers are blessed with one of the best transportation infrastructures in the world, there has always been a need to improve, update and expand the outlets used to move corn around the country and overseas. NCGA has consistently made note of needs brought forth at the grassroots level and worked to make transportation more efficient.

NCGA grower-leaders had the foresight to recognize those needs in the mid-1960s, including discussion of the feasibility of a canal in northern Iowa, canalization of the Des Moines River in Iowa and expansion of the canal running between Moline, Ill., on the Mississippi River and Bureau, Ill., on the Illinois River.

While not all of NCGA's transportation visions were realized in those early years, leaders did not give up. In 1972, Walter Goeppinger met with Iowa State University (ISU) researchers about reorganization of the grain transportation system in the Corn Belt. ISU officials were finalizing a $190,000 study for the U.S. Department of Transportation that suggested small elevators store crops for territories served, that elevators on heavy-duty rail lines provide unit train facilities, sell and move the crop; and that more rail transportation be added to the west coast for shipment of corn produced west of the Mississippi River.

The focus shifted in 1994 to include modernization of the transportation infrastructure to strengthen competitive advantage. Agricultural and related product movement represents

about one-third of the total economy's transportation requirement today, so NCGA keeps an active dialogue with government committees. A transportation task force, which was formed in

1995, has focused on Upper Mississippi River navigation, barge traffic and rail issues. Two NCGA staff persons are dedicated to this issue. NCGA has evaluated Argentina's improvements in waterways, and also lobbied for $1 billion by 2010 to extend the locks on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

NATIONAL CORN YIELD CONTEST

Since 1965, the goal of the NCYC has been to offer a production service to growers and recognize them for outstanding production capabilities. But since 1990, the contest has also had ties to the production and stewardship arena. NCGA added to the contest in 1990 requirements for entrants to provide agronomic details and proof of environmentally-friendly farming. Those details are shared in the annual Corn Yield Guide, currently sponsored by American Cyanamid Company, Deere & Company and Novartis Seeds. The guide is a major compilation of detailed agronomic information provided by entrants - that teach growers about innovative production techniques, - from fertilizer rates and timing to herbicide programs to equipment, to help boost productivity and profitability.

ENVIRONMENT

Corn growers have always produced corn with one eye on profit potential and the other on wise use of natural resources. But not until the 1990s, did NCGA participate in organizing and supporting a host of stewardship programs that are devoted to the conservation of soil and water resources.

Perhaps one of the most significant is the Conservation Buffer Initiative, which began in 1997. Buffer strips conserve soil and water resources while providing crop protection, less

wind erosion and benefits for wildlife. The initiative, which originated with 1990 farm bill policy debate, is notable because it marks the first cooperative agreement between USDA and a

national commodity group designed to reach grassroots growers.

NCGA has also been active during the 1990s with regard to water quality. Through the Production and Stewardship Action Team, NCGA is developing a comprehensive, proactive plan that will become the road map for water quality. NCGA also hosted a Water Quality Issue Forum in 1998 and has been involved with the Fishable Waters Coalition to craft an innovative, voluntary, incentive-based, locally-led approach to improving fish habitat. In addition to its focus on federal issues, NCGA also serves as a resource to states on water issues.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

NCGA will continue to keep corn positioned as a valuable resource that gives growers an edge; a resource that will be aided by biotechnology and the development of value-added corn uses. NCGA predicts such large-scale efforts as the National Plant Genomics Initiative will maintain corn's reputation as a sustainable crop. Genome research will lead to traits such as stress tolerance and pest resistance that could reduce the use of crop inputs while helping to boost the crop to between 11 and 13 billion bushels by 2002. NCGA has helped establish an industry vision of an annual crop worth $40 billion, to be accomplished with one eye on production and the other on natural resources.

The organization works closely with both growers and industry to both educate growers and when necessary to influence farmer-friendly, science-based regulatory guidelines.