AROUND THE CORN BELT
News from State Associations

Illinois: An important step was made in the U.S. House in the effort to sustain and modernize the inland waterway lock system with the passing of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).  With a vote of 394-25 in favor of the legislation, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted in favor of improving the outdated inland waterway system. “This legislation addresses critical water development and infrastructure projects nationwide. Modernizing our locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers is a crucial economic development step for farmers, Midwesterners and the entire U.S. economy. Corn may go down the river, but consumer goods like coal and building materials move upriver, and we depend on this system more than most people know,” said Steve Ruh, Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA) president of Sugar Grove. The Illinois Corn Growers Association continues to push for approval in the Senate despite opposition from the White House on numerous provisions within the bill.  The Senate Environment and Public works (EPW) Committee considered and approved its WRDA bill.  EPW Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-California) has said the Senate could vote on the bill before its May recess.

Nebraska: The beef cattle industry stands large in Nebraska, pumping more than $12 billion into the state’s economy and adding value to numerous commodities produced in the state--corn and ethanol co-products in particular. “There are thousands of cattle producers in Nebraska, from the cow-calf operations to feedlots, and all are important to corn producers,” said Jon Holzfaster of Paxton, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Cattle producers are our number one feed customer, so it is important to us as corn producers to help the cattle industry succeed.” In the past year alone, Holzfaster said, the Nebraska Corn Board has provided more than $300 thousand dollars in support of USMEF activities. That pushes the Nebraska Corn Board’s total investment in meat exports to over $5 million since USMEF’s inception in 1979. The Nebraska Corn Board has also been a leader in researching and educating cattle producers on distiller grains. Corn checkoff dollars have funded numerous feeding trials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska Corn Board helped sponsor a beef and dairy nutrition conference for animal nutritionists last fall. In addition, the Nebraska Corn Board recently conducted an extensive survey of livestock producers and feeders in Nebraska and eleven other states. The purpose of the study is to help identify opportunities and barriers in the feeding of distillers grains.