EU OKs Three More Corn Biotechnology Traits for Food, Feed Use, NCGA Notes
Corn and corn products produced from hybrids containing Herculex RW and two stacked traits, YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready 2 and Herculex I with Roundup Ready 2, can now be exported to the European Union (EU), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) notes. The three biotech corn traits have received positive safety assessments from the European Food Safety Authority and are now approved for food and feed export into the 27 countries of the European Union.
"We're pleased to see the European Union's regulatory system make this move," said Martin Barbre, chairman of the NCGA's Biotechnology Working Group and a corn grower from Carmi, Ill. "These corn traits have already been approved in the U.S., Japan and other major markets. Now with EU approval growers will have greater market access for their grain, and processors and ethanol plants can continue to export Corn Gluten Feed and Distillers Dried Grains."
In 2004, the European Union ended a six-year moratorium on new biotech products with the adoption of stricter labeling standards. "Although the approval process has resumed, there is still a significant time lag between the approval processes in the U.S. and the EU," said Barbre. U.S. corn growers have 23 commercially-available traits or combinations of traits, and with these recent EU approvals, now 15 of them are cleared for import into Europe.
As growers begin to make their hybrid selections for next year, they must still be aware that not every trait or stack is approved in the EU. The seed industry will continue to identify hybrids from non-EU approved traits under the Market Choices TM label. In cooperation with the nation's leading seed companies, the National Corn Growers Association has compiled "Know Before You Grow," a database of the biotech corn traits currently available. This database lists whether a corn trait is approved in Japan and/or European Union- and allows growers to compare commercial hybrids that contain those biotech traits. NCGA developed and frequently updates this database is a tool to help growers make informed decisions. For more information, visit www.KnowBeforeYouGrow.com.
NCGA Finds Opportunities to Educate as Senate Farm Bill Action Nears
The NCGA continues to emphasize the benefits of an optional revenue assurance program as farm bill discussions continue on Capitol Hill.
Corn producers have noted the dramatic changes in U.S. agriculture and commodity markets since the passage of the current farm bill and have presented Congress the opportunity to strengthen agriculture policy through meaningful reform. Last week, NCGA sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee members Chairman Tom Harkin and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss asserting farmers should be given an option of choosing a revenue countercyclical program (RCCP), the Average Crop Revenue program.
The letter, signed by NCGA President Ron Litterer, refuted several objections to the program. More than three years ago NCGA began exploring policy options that would enhance market orientation and effectiveness of the farm safety net, and the policy alternative NCGA supports has been subject to extensive peer review, analysis and input from other commodity organizations.
“NCGA understands the criticisms that greet most farm policy reforms are to be expected, but the fact remains that the proposed revenue counter cyclical program, ACR, is an optional program,” the letter states. “Producers should be allowed the choice of programs that makes the most sense for their farm operations.”
To read the letter in its entirety, click here.
NCGA, Farm Groups Urge House and Senate Leadership to Support an Expanded RFS
In an urgent letter to House and Senate leadership Friday, the NCGA and other agriculture groups advised Congress to support an expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
The letter acknowledges Congress’ commitment to reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources and creating a domestic, renewable energy source. Additionally, the farm groups noted, grain-based and cellulosic ethanol are needed to significantly decrease the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Corn growers have responded to the call for more corn by planting more than 93 million acres of corn this year, up 15 million acres from 2006.
“Unfortunately, unfounded reports have recently surfaced that ethanol is the cause for driving up the prices consumers pay at the grocery store,” the letter said. “While it is true that ethanol has helped provide farmers a better price for their grain, host of other factors – including world weather conditions and record oil prices – all play a greater role in the marginally rising price of food than does the growth of the U.S. ethanol industry. At the same time, recent USDA statistics show that while inputs from agriculture have declined, productivity has risen – demonstrating that farmers are responsibly and effectively meeting demand while optimizing environmental benefits.”
The letter also stated that the nation is at a crossroads in dealing with energy security and that the U.S. cannot have food security without energy security. “If we are to alter the trend of unsustainable dependence on imported oil and the resulting massive transfer of our nation's wealth to unstable regimes, we must act decisively to diversify our transportation fuel system with both grain-based and cellulosic ethanol.”
The groups urged Congress to pass an energy bill with an expanded RFS before the end of the season.
Click here to read the entire letter to House and Senate leadership.
Three Join NCGA Staff
The NCGA announces the addition of three employees to its staffs in St. Louis and Washington, D.C. Ken Colombini and Christina Koboldt join the NCGA marketing department as marketing managers. Bradford Voegeli joins as legislative and political affairs specialist.
Colombini will be responsible for publication writing, news writing, speeches and presentations. He will be based in St. Louis. Most recently he has worked as a communication consultant, providing freelance communications and public relations services to clients with a focus on corporate social responsibility. Additionally, he has held positions at Anheuser Busch Companies as a communications manager/director; California State Parks as deputy communications director; California State Legislature as director of member communications and as a speechwriter for California Governor’s office. He began his career as a journalist, writing for newspapers in California. Colombini has a Liberal Arts degree from Thomas Aquinas College.
Koboldt will be responsible for the marketing and public relations activities of key NCGA events, including Commodity Classic, the joint tradeshow of the NCGA, the American Soybean Association and the National Association of Wheat Growers; the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference and other key events. She will also provide media relations for the association. She will be base in St. Louis.
Prior to joining NCGA she worked as a public relations associate at Lents & Associates Public Relations firm in St. Louis. Koboldt has a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Lindenwood University and a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Missouri at Columbia. Additionally, she was an account executive with Weintraub Advertising in St. Louis.
Voegeli joins the NCGA Washington office, where his duties will include answering the phone and day to day management of the CornPAC. He will be responsible for updating advocacy materials and coordinating issue information. Voegeli is graduate of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
From This Week’s Blog: King Corn–Fantasy Farming Got an interesting email from a corn grower in Iowa. Pam Johnson lives not too far from Greene, Iowa, where the movie King Corn was shot. She tells a different story.
These are her comments:
I had the opportunity to preview the movie King Corn, the story of two young men who return to Iowa to explore the community where their great grandparents once lived. It was interesting to see their perspective as they grew an acre of corn, but they missed the mark several times by their assumptions.
A movie is fun, but this is serious, because they assume corn is the root of all evil in the food system and they intend to use their assumptions to influence food policy.
They begin with the assumption that they are “going to die,” that they will have a shorter life span than their parents and that corn is to blame. The people they interview claim corn has no nutritive value, that corn is “crap”, that corn is a poison for cattle, that corn is solely responsible for making Americans obese and the cause of diabetes. They go on to say that corn is destroying us all, that it is foul to the human palate. When they finish harvesting their acre of corn, they lament that: “we have been farmers for nine months and our crop will be eaten by real people.” As a fifth-generation corn grower who is thankful to be able to harvest and provide for an abundant food supply, I have a different story to tell. This story may not make the movies, because presenting our truths and backing them up with facts and figures is just not as entertaining as “fantasy farming.” As in our grandparents’ day, farmers continue to provide an abundant and safe food supply. We believe that providing corn fed meat to our nation’s tables and those of a hungry global population is a good and honorable task. We believe that our children and grandchildren can live long and healthy lives if they eat and drink in moderation and exercise.
I attended the World Food Prize Symposium this past week, which addresses world hunger. As Norman Borlaug, the father of the green revolution credited for saving millions of hungry people said, “It is easy to criticize when your belly is full.”
An abundance of choices in healthy food is a blessing for Americans. Teach this to your children’s children. Tell them the whole story of food and agriculture.
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