NCGA's Mission: To Create and
Increase Opportunities for Corn Growers
This is Corn Commentary, the weekly newsletter for state and national
grower leaders of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). For
complete stories and updated NCGA information, visit www.ncga.com or
the NCGA Leader Resource Center, www.insidencga.com.
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Michigan Corn Growers Taking Part in Super Bowl Activities
- NCGA Applauds USDA Moving Up CSP Sign-Up Period
- Johanns to Address Farm Policy, Key Ag Issues At Commodity Classic General Session
- Taiwan Becomes Latest Asian Country to Reopen Market to U.S. Beef, NCGA Notes
- Corn Growers Bolstered by Bush Comments on Ethanol, Renewable Energy
- Corn Grower Leaders Attend NCGA Leadership Academy in Washington
- NCGA Meets with JETRO Director of Agriculture
- NCGA Encourages Grower Participation in House Ag Committee Field Hearings
- Indiana Looks to Establish New Checkoff Program
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Michigan Corn Growers Taking Part in Super Bowl Activities
The Michigan Corn Growers Association (MCGA) will be a part of Super Bowl XL activities, as the association participates in Saturday’s media dinner at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. (More On This Story)
NCGA Applauds USDA Moving Up CSP Sign-Up Period
The NCGA is pleased the United States Department of Agriculture has considered planting time when scheduling the 2006 Conservation Security Program (CSP) sign-up period. (More On This Story)
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| NCGA Corn Board member Ron Litterer and Iowa corn grower Pam Johnson speak with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns at the 2005 Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas. Johanns will give the keynote address at the 2006 Commodity Classic General Session in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday, March 3.
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Johanns to Address Farm Policy, Key Ag Issues at Commodity Classic General Session
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns will address the Commodity Classic General Session Friday, March 3, where he will recap his first year as head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, outline ongoing discussions on the upcoming farm bill and discuss policy issues affecting corn and soybean growers. Commodity Classic, the combined convention and trade show of the NCGA and the American Soybean Association, will be held March 2-4 in Anaheim, Calif. (More On This Story)
Taiwan Becomes Latest Asian Country to Reopen Market to U.S. Beef, NCGA Notes
Taiwan became the third Asian nation to lift its ban on U.S. beef last week, as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced that Taiwan will resume trade in U.S. boneless beef from animals younger than 30 months of age, the NCGA notes. (More On This Story)
Corn Growers Bolstered by Bush Comments on Ethanol, Renewable Energy
President George W. Bush displayed his confidence in the domestic growth of renewable energy in his State of the Union address last night when he called for a goal of replacing more than 75 percent of U.S. oil imports from the Middle East by 2025, said NCGA First Vice President Ken McCauley. (More On This Story)
Corn Grower Leaders Attend NCGA Leadership Academy in Washington
Effective leadership is about communication and cooperation, and the NCGA is successful when its grower leaders have the skills to articulate producers’ perspectives in a way that policymakers can understand, Ken McCauley, NCGA first vice president, told attendees at the NCGA Leadership Academy Monday in Washington, D.C. (More On This Story)
NCGA Meets with JETRO Director of Agriculture
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Director of Agriculture Junichiro Yamakuchi visited NCGA in St. Louis today to learn about biotechnology, ethanol and corn supply. (More On This Story)
NCGA Encourages Grower Participation in House Ag Committee Field Hearings
The NCGA urges growers to attend the House Agriculture Committee’s field hearings on the 2002 farm bill in the coming weeks. The hearings give growers the opportunity to discuss the farm bill candidly with congressmen. (More On This Story)
Indiana Looks to Establish New Checkoff Program
The NCGA supports the efforts of the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) to establish a new voluntary corn checkoff program. The new program would allow the checkoff dollars to be collected automatically when the corn is sold and changes the rate of the current checkoff from one-half cent per bushel to one-half of one percent of the value per bushel. (More On This Story)
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AROUND THE CORN BELT
News
from State Associations
Illinois: The Illinois Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committee today approved an Illinois Renewable Fuels Standard (SB 2236) which is geared to shift production and use of ethanol and biodiesel into a higher gear through research, investment, and industry expansion. The bill, which now awaits full Senate action, would establish a base for the amount of ethanol fuel consumed in Illinois. The measure would also revise the State Sales Tax incentives for 10%-blend ethanol fuel, providing a new tool to encourage the development of alternative fuels in Illinois. The bill the state would establish a minimum of 10% of all gasoline used in Illinois be ethanol by 2008, set a goal of expanding this to 15% by 2012, and reduce the current State Sales Tax Incentive for ethanol from its current rate of 20% of the state sales tax to 10% in July and phase it out in 2015.
Iowa: Legislation to establish a 25% Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is meeting with an enthusiastic response from the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA). SSB 3054, introduced today in the Senate Natural Resources Committee, would result in a quarter of Iowa’s motor fuel coming from renewable sources by 2015. The ICGA has invited grower members and other ethanol supporters to voice their support for an Iowa RFS during the ICGA’s Day on the Hill with state legislators on Feb. 13.
Minnesota: Since May 2005, when the Minnesota Legislature authorized the investigation of E20--a 20 percent ethanol gasoline blend-officials in Minnesota have been racing against the clock, to beat a 2010 deadline set by the legislation for acquiring US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval for E20 as standard gasoline fuel additive. Work is about to begin on three different E20 trials, according to Ralph Groschen, a renewable fuels marketing analyst with Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Groschen is heading up the effort to gain EPA approval in Minnesota, through a 211(f) waiver of the Clean Air act. "We have to demonstrate to EPA that E20 won't harm engines or cause any undue emissions problems, short term or long term, to the fleet," Groschen said. "That means large engines and small engines. There's a lot of work to do and we only have until 2010 to get the waiver."
Nebraska: The Nebraska Corn Board, working with University of Nebraska-Lincoln animal scientists, has compiled two manuals on the feeding of distillers grains and corn gluten to livestock.
The first manual, called the Corn Processing Co-Products Manual is a review of current co-products feeding research involving beef, hogs, poultry and dairy. The second, entitled Utilization of Corn Co-Products in the Beef Industry, contains even more detailed information for beef producers. Both co-products manuals are available for download on the Nebraska Corn Board web site at www.nebraskacorn.org. The beef-specific manual is also available at http://beef.unl.edu. Manuals may also be requested by phone or e-mail, by calling 800-632-6761, or by e-mailing the Nebraska Corn Board at ne.corninfo@necorn.state.ne.us . |
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KEY ISSUES
