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:

• Fall is the Right Time to Enter NCGA Photo Contest
• Online Calculator Lets Corn Growers Compare Farm Bill Options
• NCGA Tells Capitol Hill It’s Time to Act on WRDA, Farm Bill
• NCGA Prepares Comments on USDA Role in Standardizing Ethanol Coproducts Testing
• From This Week’s Blog:  This is the kind of response that every ethanol supporter out there should be writing

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Fall is the Right Time to Enter NCGA Photo Contest
Getting ready for harvest? Check the combine and get the camera ready. There’s still time to snap that award-winning photo and enter the NCGA photo contest. NCGA calls on its members and their families to showcase nature’s artwork - in its various production stages - through the NCGA “Gallery of Corn” Photo Contest. Entrants may submit up to two photos per category:

• Planting
• Growing
• Harvesting
• Production Livestock
• Families on the farm
• Nature

A Grand Prize contest winner, first, second and third place winners will be named in each category. The Grand Prize winner will receive $500. First Place winners in each category receive $75; while Second and Third Place category winners will receive $50 and $25, respectively. Last year, for the second consecutive year, Peggy Bellar of Howard, Kan., snapped the grand prize photo in the Gallery of Corn Photo Contest. Deadline for entries is Nov. 30. Winners will be announced in December. All winning photographs will be displayed at the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville, Tenn. Entry forms and contest rules are available on the NCGA Web site.

Online Calculator Lets Corn Growers Compare Farm Bill Options
Growers from 10 Corn Belt states can take advantage of an online program to help them analyze the different farm bill proposals using a grower’s own “what if” scenarios.

The program, developed by The University of Illinois, will help producers compare how the Durbin-Brown bill, “The Farm Safety Net Improvement Act of 2007,” compares with other farm bill commodity title options, such as NCGA’s county-based revenue-based countercyclical program. The University of Illinois has also added a spreadsheet to its Farm Analysis Solution Tools (F.A.S.T.) online series. The calculator will compare the following Farm Bill options:

• Durbin/Brown Senate proposal (S.1872) with a state trigger for a revenue-based countercyclical program (RCCP)
• Durbin/Brown proposal with a county trigger RCCP
• Current (2002) farm bill
• House-passed farm bill 

The program includes formulas for corn, soybeans and wheat and uses data for 10 Corn Belt states:

• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• South Dakota

Historical data is used as the default in the Web site from 1985 -2006.  Data for 2007 -2009 uses yield trends as calculated by the Durbin/Brown proposal and pricing from Congressional Budget Office projections. The spreadsheet is compatible with Microsoft Excel and can be downloaded at the University of Illinois’ Farmdoc Web site under the F.A.S.T. section.

The spreadsheet is compatible with Microsoft Excel and can be downloaded at the University of Illinois’ Farmdoc Web site under the F.A.S.T. section.

NCGA Tells Capitol Hill It’s Time to Act on WRDA, Farm Bill

Contact your senator about WRDA
Let’s get a better farm bill in 2007

When senators returned to their offices this week from their summer recess, they found a reminder from NCGA and other ag groups that time is running out to improve the nation’s water transportation system. NCGA and more than 65 other agricultural, transportation and commodities organizations sent a series of letters to Senate leadership asking for immediate action on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Different versions of WRDA were approved by the House and Senate, and a compromise version is awaiting Senate approval. “International competition from countries such as Argentina and Brazil are increasing the importance of quick and efficient delivery of bulk commodities,” NCGA President Ken McCauley said. “While we have sat idle, South American countries are investing large sums in river infrastructure to upgrade their river systems to be more competitive in world markets. America cannot afford to allow any aspect of river commerce to deteriorate for fear of losing export market share to South America at the expense of our agricultural industry. A major advantage our farmers have over competitors in Brazil is the inland waterway system. Without it, we will not remain a reliable supplier in the international marketplace.” McCauley also told the Senate, “As it has been seven years since the last authorization bill, clearly we must go forward. We cannot afford to wait any longer. If we fail to move forward, the world will look elsewhere for basic food commodities. That is something corn growers and farmers across the country cannot accept.” The Senate must also take up the 2007 farm bill. Currently Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin is marking up a version of the bill for the committee to consider. Also on the table is a proposal by Sens. Dick Durbin and Sherrod Brown to include a farm safety net similar to NCGA’s revenue countercyclical program. The House and Senate are also working through different versions of energy legislation. The Senate-passed bill would require the nation to use 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015 - double the current cap of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 - and 36 billion gallons by 2022. A House-Senate conference committee will have to work out differences between the two bills and write a final version. Click here for more information about the status of corn-related legislation Congress will take up over the next several weeks.

NCGA Prepares Comments on USDA Role in Standardizing Ethanol Coproducts Testing
NCGA is preparing comments in response to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inquiry regarding the department’s role in differentiating grain inputs for ethanol production and standardizing testing of the coproducts of ethanol production. An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in July by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) asks stakeholders to weigh in on the potential role of GIPSA in formulating standard practices for the trade of ethanol coproducts and ethanol input grains. “In the case of ethanol input grains and coproducts, it is the opinion of NCGA that the market is working and emerging impediments to domestic and international trade are being proactively addressed by industry,” said Geoff Cooper, NCGA director of ethanol and business development. “The current market framework for trading distillers grains, which involves minimal government participation, is effective.” Cooper cited several examples of how the ethanol and feed industries are already taking voluntary action to add more structure to the distillers grains marketplace. One such example is the recent release of a report containing new guidelines for the analysis of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). The report, which also contains information on the definitions of DDGS and condensed distillers solubles, is the result of a year-long study funded jointly by NCGA, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA). “Because ethanol coproducts are critically important to the profitability of an ethanol plant, the industry has in recent years intensified efforts to better facilitate the global trade of coproducts, improve physical and nutritional product quality, enhance product handling characteristics and implement best management practices,” he said. “NCGA does not currently anticipate a need for GIPSA or other U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies to intensify their involvement in issues related to differentiating grain inputs for ethanol production or the testing and marketing of ethanol coproducts.” NCGA will formally respond to GIPSA with written comments within the next two weeks. See NCGA’s Guidelines for DDGS Standards for more information.

From This Week’s Blog: This is the kind of response that every ethanol supporter out there should be writing
This is the kind of response that every ethanol supporter out there should be writing. It appears in “The Kansan.com” and was written by Dana Shifflett of Newton, who is apparently a wheat grower. I did not see the original editorial, but this writer makes excellent, well constructed points. Here are just a few - you need to read the whole thing and memorize it to fight back with some good facts. Check out the Corn Commentary blog.