IN THIS ISSUE:

• Senate Energy Bill Passes Committee: NCGA Preparing for Senate Floor Deliberations on RFS
• NCGA, USGC Urge Against NAFTA Renegotiation
• NCGA Notes There is No Wilmington Bulk Commitment To Purchase South American Corn
• NCGA Promotes Benefits of Corn-fed Beef
• NCGA Supports Grains Council's Grain-Purchasing Education Program in Taiwan
• NCGA Says Herbicide Study Holds Significant Findings for Growers
• LRC Provides Corn Grower Leaders with Online Access to NCGA information
• NCGA, State Association Staff Meet in St. Louis

Senate Energy Bill Passes Committee: NCGA Preparing for Senate Floor Deliberations on RFS
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In a 13-10 vote Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved its comprehensive energy bill. The legislation, which will be merged with the Senate Finance Committee's energy tax plan, is expected to reach the Senate floor as early as mid-next week. The RFS fuels agreement (S. 791), which cleared the Environment and Public Works Committee last month, will be offered as an amendment to the energy bill during floor debate. Coupled with the NCGA-supported finance tax package, which includes a Highway Trust Fund fix and adjustments to the small ethanol producer tax credit, growers will likely have a Senate-passed energy bill, including an RFS, by mid-June. NCGA expects floor debate on the energy bill to last several weeks. Growers can send letters to their senators encouraging passage of an RFS by clicking on the action alert at www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com>.

NCGA, USGC Urge Against NAFTA Renegotiation
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NCGA and the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) are urging the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) against agreeing to a renegotiation of Mexico's commitments for white corn under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

As part of the National Farm Accord signed by President Vicente Fox on April 28, it is reported the Mexican government will review the current NAFTA provisions for white corn and dry beans. The review will assess mechanisms that may be applied to manage imports of those commodities as tariffs are eliminated under the NAFTA. Mexican farmers have been publicly critical in recent months of NAFTA agriculture provisions and have erected new trade barriers due to tariff reductions that occurred in January. In a recent report issued by the USTR, the United States pledged to cooperate with Mexico to resolve the trade barriers, but warned, "the United States will not agree to alter or renegotiate long-settled NAFTA provisions."

NCGA Notes There is No Wilmington Bulk Commitment to Purchase South American Corn
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NCGA President Fred Yoder said Thursday, contrary to recent reports, Wilmington Bulk, LLC, has not made a commitment to purchase corn from South America.

"However, a source at a hog and poultry company in the Southeast indicated they are always looking for the most cost-effective way to feed their animals and purchases may be made in the future," said Yoder.

"NCGA is disappointed Wilmington Bulk companies have to look overseas to meet their needs," continued Yoder. "Instead of blaming growers and processors we should be looking for ways to improve the competitiveness of domestic supplies, which we know is a superior product."

A study released last month by NCGA shows increasing amounts of feedstuffs imports into the southeastern United States is due in part to significant improvements in Brazilian and Argentinean transportation infrastructures and lower production costs in those countries. (Visit here <http://www.ncga.com/public_policy/PDF/PromarSoutheastImportStudy.pdf> for the complete study.) A tour of Wilmington Bulk's port facility in February and a visit to Murphy Brown, one of the consortium members, helped the NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team understand the importance of an efficient transportation system and the impact certain U.S. laws, such as the Jones Act, have on growers' ability to meet domestic needs.

NCGA Promotes Benefits of Corn-fed Beef
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Working with organizations such as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the U.S Meat Export Federation (USMEF), NCGA is promoting the benefits of corn-fed beef over grass-fed cattle, addressing both taste and health concerns. Corn-fed beef is considered by many to be the finest tasting, most tender available for the dinner plate, both in the United States and around the world.

Collectively, the livestock industry utilizes 5.6 billion bushels of corn annually. Corn used directly as feed represents nearly 60 percent of consumption, while industrial co-products used as feed, such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) make up another 20 percent of usage. The beef industry continues to be the largest segment of the livestock industry in corn consumption for finishing diets.
According to USMEF, U.S. meat dominates the Asian market for high-quality steak cuts, yet it faces fierce price competition from Australia and New Zealand for lower cost shin/shank and intercostals cuts. However, aggressive campaigns such as its Corn Fed to Tenderness campaign have helped forge inroads into supermarkets due to the perception among consumers that U.S. corn-fed meat is superior. The campaign uses posters, stickers, recipe cards, and brochures in supermarkets and other retail outlets featuring U.S. meat.

NCGA Supports Grains Council's Grain-Purchasing Education Program in Taiwan
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NCGA is pleased to learn of the U.S. Grains Council's (USGC) use of grain-purchasing education to help maintain U.S. market share in Taiwan. USGC's Taiwan office recently hosted a program for the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC). The director and key managers of TSC's sales department participated in this program while representatives of American Soybean Association (ASA) and Monsanto Far East Ltd. - Taiwan Branch (Monsanto Taiwan) assisted with the programming.

Grains Council provided attendees with the updated information on U.S. production, supply and demand of grains, the advantages of Value-Enhanced Grains (VEG) and the quality of Distillers dry grains with solubles (DDGS). ASA and Monsanto Taiwan introduced the market situation of soybeans and the development and registration of AgBiotech crops.
--Information for this story provided by U.S. Grains Council.

NCGA Says Herbicide Study Holds Significant Findings for Growers
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NCGA is pleased with key findings of a study released April 24 that says widespread use of herbicides in U.S.-grown crops have resulted in yield increases, savings for growers and reduced soil erosion. The study was conducted by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP). Herbicides replace hand weeding and cultivation requirements, which, according to the study, cost more than $14 billion in annual labor and is more than double what U.S. growers spend on herbicides and applications. If not for herbicide usage, corn growers would be faced with a two-hour to five-hour per acre increase in labor. Further, alternatives to herbicide use would result in $13.3 billion and 288 billion pound loses in U.S. food and fiber production. Compounded with the increased cost of production, total grower net income would decline by $21 billion annually. It is estimated cropland erosion decreased from 3.5 billion tons in 1938 (herbicides were introduced in the United States in the 1940s) to 1 billion tons in 1997, all while reducing tillage. Without herbicides, farmers could no longer grow crops using no-till methods.

LRC Provides Corn Grower Leaders with Online Access to NCGA information
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The NCGA Leader Resource Center (LRC) is the online resource for state and national corn grower leaders. The LRC is available to state board members, Corn Board, national team, committee and working group members, Corn Congress delegates and state and national staffs. The site is available at www.insidencga.com by subscription only. If you need your username or password reset or need assistance using the site, please contact membership@ncga.com
Recent information added to the site include:
FINANCE

• Funding Comparison FY 1995 - 2003 (Sources of revenues) (PDF)
• FY 2003 Checkoff Funding as of 4-17-03 (PDF)
• FY 2003 Portfolio Funding List (Summary) as of 4-17-03 (PDF)
• CALENDAR
• Visit the LRC's National and State Calendars for up-to-date information regarding key events for 2003 and 2004.

ONLINE SURVEY
Current Online Survey: "Are you currently considering or in a high value or identity preserved grain contract?" Check out how other LRC site visitors have voted. Visit the survey discussion board to share your thoughts.

NCGA, State Association Staff Meet in St. Louis
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Staff members of NCGA and its affiliated state associations were in St. Louis this week for their three-day annual meeting, which according to CEO Rick Tolman, is an opportunity for NCGA, states, and state staff to share ideas and to work together on common issues.

Monday's session was highlighted by a breakout session in which state staff discussed some of the programs they have implemented to tackle key issues, such as ethanol. These sessions provided the platform for the state and national association to find common ways to address key issues affecting corn growers. Over the course of the three-day meeting, various breakout sessions were conducted on topics such as communications, ethanol, trade, biotechnology, NCGA strategy and operations, among others.

NCGA THIS WEEK
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• May 5-7 NCGA Vice President of Research and Business Development Dr. Richard Glass, Director of Business Development/Corn Processing Research Rene Shunk and Research and Business Development Manager Nathan Danielson will be in Breckenridge, Colo., attending the 25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels & Chemicals.
  

© 2003 National Corn Growers Association

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE