June 18, 2004 * Volume 11* Number 23

NCGA's Mission: To Create and Increase Opportunities
for Corn Growers in a Changing World

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:

• NCGA Corn Board Elects Tumbleson as First Vice President
• Japan Approves Monsanto’s YieldGard Plus, NCGA Notes
• NCGA, MARC 2000 Join Forces with Lawmakers to Promote Lock Modernization
• NCGA, Coalition Partners Speak Out in Favor of New Locks at Corps Hearings
• Save Money By Mailing Your NCGA Corn Yield Contest Entry Form Early
• NCGA’s Johnson Outlines Importance of Livestock to Corn Growers at World Pork Expo
• NCGA Hosts Journalists from 18 Countries on Biotech Media Tour
• DDGS Feed Trials Begin in Mexico

NCGA Corn Board Elects Tumbleson as First Vice President NCGA Corn Board member Gerald Tumbleson was elected Thursday as the association’s first vice president at a Corn Board meeting in San Diego. The election will be ratified at NCGA’s Corn Congress in July. It’s very exciting for me and I’m looking forward to serving,” said Tumbleson, a producer from Martin County, Minn., and a Corn Board member since 1998. “I’m just happy to be on board. (More On This Story)

Japan Approves Monsanto’s YieldGard Plus, NCGA Notes
NCGA is encouraged by recent news that Monsanto’s YieldGard Plus corn has received environmental approval in Japan. Environmental authorization was the final step in the Japanese approval process for the product, as the Japanese government had already granted food and feed import approval. (More On This Story)

Illinois corn grower Greg Guenther, left, and Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) joined other proponents of lock modernization Thursday in Washington, D.C., to discuss the necessity of new locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. To hear Guenther and Maryland corn grower Jamie Jamison comment on the need for 1,200-foot locks, click on the “Listen Now” button.

NCGA, MARC 2000 Join Forces with Lawmakers to Promote Lock Modernization
NCGA, its partners in the Midwest Area River Coalition (MARC 2000) and key senators from states along the Mississippi River came together today in a joint press conference touting the critical need for passage of S. 2470, a bill that would modernize locks on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. (More On This Story)

Illinois corn grower Garry Niemeyer addresses Army Corps of Engineers officials Tuesday on the importance of lock modernization.

NCGA, Coalition Partners Speak Out in Favor of New Locks at Corps Hearings
During the past 10 days, NCGA members have gathered at public hearings throughout the upper Mississippi River basin to voice their resounding support of a modern, well-maintained locks system on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. (More On This Story)

Save Money by Mailing Your NCGA Corn Yield Contest Entry Form Today
Corn farmers whose National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC) entry forms are postmarked today or earlier will pay just $55 to participate in the contest, according to the NCGA. (More On This Story)

NCGA’s Johnson Outlines Importance of Livestock to Corn Growers at World Pork Expo
Pam Johnson, a member of NCGA’s Research and Business Development Action Team (RBDAT) and an Iowa corn grower, emphasized the importance of the livestock industry to corn producers last week at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. (More On This Story)

NCGA Hosts Journalists from 18 Countries on Biotech Media Tour
Nearly 25 international journalists visited the NCGA offices in St. Louis Friday to discuss how biotechnology is helping U.S. corn farmers produce safe, high-quality grain.

The visit was part of the International Biotech Media Tour, an event sponsored by NCGA; the U.S. Grains Council; Iowa Corn Promotion Board, Nebraska Corn Development, Utilization and Marketing Board; and Illinois Corn Marketing Board. (More On This Story)

DDGS Feed Trials Begin in Mexico
The U.S. Grains Council and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board launched feeding trials in Central Mexico this week for distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). The swine trials began June 12 and the dairy trials on June 14. “Milk production will be measured for 14 days and then the animals will be divided into two lots,” Ricardo Celma, the council’s Mexico director, said of the dairy trials. “The one lot will be the control group and the other will have DDGS included in their diets.” The beef trials are scheduled to begin June 25. Next month, nutritionists hired by the council, as well as Reid Jensen with the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council and a Council Advisory Team member, will travel to the feeding demonstration sites. Jensen will give a presentation on the trials’ progress during the council’s Board of Delegates meeting July 25-27 in Montreal. Mexico imported about 30,500 metric tons of DDGS last year, most of it consumed by livestock in the northern border markets. The joint feeding trials project will be conducted in Veracruz in cooperation with the Veracruz Beef Producers Association and the Jalapa Dairy Producers Association.
Story courtesy of U.S. Grains Council

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© 2004 National Corn Growers Association

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE