NCGA News












February 18, 2005 * Volume 12 * Number 7

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:

· NCGA Again Urges Congress to Tackle Energy Legislation with RFS
· NCGA Discusses Key Issues with Corn Industry’s Top Customer
· MARC 2000 Members Urge President to Support New Locks
· NCGA Welcomes Harkin’s Ethanol to Hydrogen Legislation
· NCGA President Shares Biotech Experiences with Australian Ag Industry
· NCGA Highlights Versatility of Corn in 2005 ‘World of Corn’

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NCGA Again Urges Congress to Tackle Energy Legislation with RFS
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) renewed its call for passage of a comprehensive energy bill that includes a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) this week in written testimony submitted to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. (More On This Story)

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, left, met briefly with NCGA Corn Board member Bob Dickey, center, and NCGA Director of Livestock Max Starbuck, right, at the recent National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

NCGA Discusses Key Issues with Corn Industry’s Top Customer
NCGA Corn Board member Bob Dickey traveled to San Antonio, Texas, recently to interact with the corn sector’s top customer – the U.S. beef industry. (More On This Story)

MARC 2000 Members Urge President to Support New Locks
The Midwest Area River Coalition (MARC 2000), which includes the NCGA, recently urged President George W. Bush to support modernization of the failing locks and dams system on the Upper Mississippi River System. (More On This Story)

NCGA Welcomes Harkin’s Ethanol-to-Hydrogen Legislation
The NCGA commends Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) for introducing legislation this week that strengthens efforts to convert ethanol into hydrogen to fuel hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).(More On This Story)

NCGA President Shares Biotech Experiences with Australian Ag Industry
Resistance to agricultural biotechnology often stems from a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge on the subject, according to NCGA President Leon Corzine. At the invitation of the Australian government, Corzine hopes to shed some light on the facts surrounding biotech crops this week during the Agribusiness Crop Updates conference in Perth, Australia. (More On This Story)

NCGA Highlights Versatility of Corn in 2005 ‘World of Corn’
Corn producers are continually rethinking the role of their product in the world, redefining its potential and researching new ways it can help meet world challenges. The NCGA 2005 “World of Corn,” an 18-page source of useful corn statistics and industry information, looks at the many ways in which corn growers are rethinking America’s top crop. (More On This Story)

 

AROUND THE CORN BELT
News from State Associations

IILLINOIS: Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville's National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center is among eight recipients of funding from the State Technologies Advancement Collaborative. Out of a total of $6.4 million awarded for various energy research products, NCERC received $633,000. The center will use the funding to study dried distillers grains with solubles.

MICHIGAN: The Andersons Inc. said yesterday it is considering the 77-acre site of its Albion, Mich., grain operation as a possible location for an ethanol plant. The site in Calhoun County's rural Sheridan Township is one of several locations being considered for a 50-million-gallon-a-year ethanol plant, the company said. A decision will be announced this year, it said in a statement.

IOWA: Athenix Corp., a biotechnology company for agricultural and chemical applications, and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board this week announced a research cooperation.

KANSAS: Kansas Corn Growers Association staffer Robert White was elected vice chairman of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) recently at NEVC’s annual meeting in Miami. NEVC has provided funding for four E-85 locations in Kansas.

MISSOURI: Missouri's newest ethanol plant began operations this week with a goal of producing 40 million to 45 million gallons of ethanol a year. Mid-Missouri Energy Group, which operates the plant, near Malta Bend, Mo., in Saline County, expects to be at full operating capacity by the end of the month. At full capacity, the plant would produce 120,000 gallons of ethanol a day from 40,000 bushels of corn.

 

Of Special Interest:

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Next Week:

NOTE: Corn Commentary will not be published next week due to Commodity Classic

Feb. 24-26 NCGA/ASA Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas

More calendar information is available on the NCGA Leader Resource Center, http://www.insidencga.com

© 2005 National Corn Growers Association



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