NCGA's Farm Bill Testimony Spotlights Innovative 'Counter-Cyclical' Proposal

President Lee Klein presented NCGA's Farm Bill testimony before the House Agriculture Committee this week. The testimony drew praise from many committee members, who singled out the association's bold and innovative counter-cyclical income support proposal. NCGA's counter-cyclical program will provide growers the support they need when they need it. This program incorporates the benefits of the marketing assistance loan program and the market loss assistance payments into one World Trade Organization (WTO) compliant, counter-cyclical program. Citing the continued productivity of this nation's corn growers, Klein told the House Agriculture Committee that the equation of higher yields and higher stocks-to-use ratios equaling today's low prices calls for a continued evolution in farm policy: "To NCGA this shows that our next generation of farm policy needs a counter-cyclical component that is heavily oriented at answering the profitability needs of basic commodity farm income." Klein added, "We need a complete package that provides farmers opportunities in the market place with minimal interference in production decisions and that includes a safety net against those economic forces that are beyond producers' control. We believe our proposal can do that." Klein concluded his remarks by stating that it is in the best interests of the American public in general and rural communities in particular to "protect the viability of agricultural producers in a manner that is market oriented, WTO-compliant, environmentally responsible and responsive to the vast geographical and economical differences faced by our rural farm families and corn grower members." NCGA was the only organization representing corn growers invited to testify. Klein's complete testimony is posted on the NCGA web site.

NCGA Recommends Increases in FMD and MAP

Another key issue addressed in NCGA's comprehensive Farm Bill testimony involves a request for increased funding for both the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Cooperator Program and the Market Access Program (MAP). NCGA told the House Agriculture Committee that it is time for this committee to demonstrate a serious commitment to market development to enable U.S. producers to develop and maintain important markets.

NCGA Pushes Ethanol on Capitol Hill

NCGA told the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research this week that ethanol deserves a leading role in emerging national energy policy because it delivers energy security, promotes environmental stewardship and revitalizes rural communities. NCGA Chairman Lynn Jensen provided an up-to-date portrayal of the U.S. ethanol industry, noting that given the uncertainty about this nation's energy supplies, the arguments promoting ethanol are compelling. He said the current cost of producing ethanol lies in the range of $0.95-1.10 per gallon and research shows that for every 100 BTUs of energy used to produce ethanol, 135 BTUs of ethanol are produced. "Ethanol facilities are not only cost effective, they are energy efficient. . .Therefore, the myth that it takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than is contained in the ethanol itself is just that: a myth," Jensen noted. "Last year, ethanol production set a new record, utilizing more than 600 million bushels of corn, or about 6.5 percent of the crop to produce 1.63 billion gallons of fuel ethanol," Jensen explained. "Corn demand created by ethanol kept valuable farmland resources in production, adding as much as $3 billion to the income of our corn farmers." The viability of the ethanol industry hinges in large part on government policy," he said, adding, "Given the uncertainty regarding how the Administration will respond to California's request for a waiver from the federal reformulated gasoline program (RFG), growers' investments in new ethanol plans are on hold." Jensen suggested a two-track approach that achieves:

• The development of a comprehensive energy strategy that includes a renewable fuels requirement complementing the current oxygen requirement in the RFG program; and
• A comprehensive reauthorization of the Clean Air Act where new developments in fuel and vehicle technology "can be considered through the critical lens of analysis that our environmental policy demands. Such a course would provide the renewable fuels industry the necessary signals needed to attract additional investment while maintaining the environmental benefits of current law that has provided millions of Americans with cleaner air." Jensen's testimony in its entirety is posted on the NCGA web site.

NCGA Defends Ethanol as Gas Prices Continue to Soar

With gas prices on the increase once again - and predictions that prices may even reach $3 a gallon in the Midwest - NCGA has listened to critics who wrongfully blame ethanol as the cause of the higher prices, and has responded. In its communications in support of ethanol, NCGA is noting:

• With rising gas prices that some say will reach $3 this summer, reports both inside and outside the media are hinting that ethanol is to blame. To the untrained eye, ethanol is an easy scapegoat and those who target it for blame do so for their own agenda.
• But the fact is that ethanol is not driving gas prices up, nor will ethanol make much difference in prices nationally because it is such a small percentage of the market. Gas is going up because of lower supplies from OPEC and lower production by oil companies. NCGA is also refuting myths generated by the media in recent weeks by touting facts about ethanol's economic and environmental benefits. NCGA Unveils Redesigned, Friendlier Web Site

In its quest to make its web site, www.ncga.com, a valuable grower resource, NCGA has unveiled a redesign of the site that is intended to be more user-friendly and helps growers to gain easier access to affiliated state web sites and news. Some highlights of the new site design:

• Daily News of the Day story, with photo in top center column
• Easier Access to Legislative Action Center and Online Alerts
• One-click access to state web sites
• "State Roundup" section to promote state-based news
• Access to ag news, weather and markets
• NCGA key issues listed at top left of website for quick access
• New site navigation in left column and simplified section names
• New "seasonal" NCGA logo banner. Changes for Spring,Summer, Fall, Winter

While these cosmetic changes have been made to the front page, NCGA will continue making content and structural changes to the entire site.

NCGA Requests $15 million for Vision 2020 Agricultural Vision Program

In testimony submitted April 16 to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, the NCGA asked for $15 million in funding for the Department of Energy (DOE), the Plant/Crop Based Renewable Resources Vision 2020 (Agricultural Vision) program that is funded under the Industries of the Future program within the Energy Conservation budget. "We strongly urge you to provide $15 million for FY2002 for the OIT (Office of Information Technologies) to implement, more fully, the Agricultural Vision's Technology Roadmap. This funding will help to decrease our dependence on imported oil, increase farm income, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, spur rural development and increase recycling opportunities," the NCGA said.

Quotas on Wheat Gluten Imports Spur Retaliation by EU

Since last January, the U.S. corn gluten industry has been burdened by the European Union's (EU) decision to impose a 5 Euros per ton duty on EU-bound exports. The duty will be eliminated if the United States removes the quota on vital wheat gluten imports at the end of May. NCGA has joined forces with the corn wet milling industry to block any extension of the wheat gluten quota. Any continued protection of the domestic wheat gluten industry will ensure that the EU will continue with its duties on U.S. corn gluten. NCGA is emphatically telling Congress and the Administration that U.S. corn farmers and the corn wet milling industry should not bear the cost of the problems of the wheat starch industry.

Bush Pushes Trade Agenda at Quebec Summit

Despite noisy protests outside, President George Bush told other leaders from the Western Hemisphere assembled in Quebec City that the United States is committed to completing the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by 2005. The President's strong remarks supporting the FTAA fit well with NCGA policy objectives for greater trade opportunities in Latin America. Now, Congress must demonstrate a similar commitment to trade liberalization. As NCGA stated in testimony to the House Agriculture Committee: "Congress must pass Trade Promotion Authority to assure that the President and his administration are able to negotiate the best trade agreements for U.S. agriculture. Real progress in market access will only occur through serious trade negotiation."

NCGA, Grains Council Representatives Attend Contentious Trade Talks in Argentina

NCGA President-elect Tim Hume and Susan Keith, Senior Director of Public Policy, in cooperation with the U.S. Grains Council, joined other agricultural groups for an assessment of hemispheric trading issues during the recent Free Trade Area of the Americas, Americas Business Forum. Held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Forum brought together agriculture and trade-related groups for an agricultural workshop on trade negotiations. In general, countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia insisted on reforms to U.S. domestic agricultural subsidies as a condition to reducing their tariffs on U.S. commodities.

Conference Committee on Budget Bill Meets

On Wednesday of this week, conferees met to begin negotiations on the budget resolution. Little progress was made as both parties began negotiations from two very different positions. Of particular interest to NCGA will be the final budget numbers for the tax cut. (The House passed a $1.6 trillion tax cut while the Senate's version was $1.2 trillion) and authorized spending for agriculture --the Senate budget included $21.3 billion in mandatory agriculture spending for FY02 and $172.1 billion over 10 years, compared to the House levels of $14.3 billion for FY02 and $117.1 billion over 10 years. It is expected that the Committee will meet and continue to work on the resolution through the weekend in an effort to begin floor debate late next week.

NCGA Represented at NASA Precision Ag Meeting

On April 19, NCGA Director of Production & Marketing Paul Bertels attended a meeting of Ag 20/20, a group made up from NASA, USDA and the four leading commodity groups -- Corn, Cotton, Soybeans, Wheat. The group's mission is to help NASA develop relevant remote sensing technology (precision ag) tools. NASA currently has 12 projects in the works this year, 4 with corn applications:

• In-Season variable Rate Application of Nitrogen (Champaign, Ill.). This project is designed to reduce nitrogen use by using remotely-sensed crop stress. This research will allow variable rate nitrogen applications up to 3-5 feet tall corn.
• Use of Multispectral Remotely Sensed Data to Enhance Protein Content in White Corn (University of Nebraska/Wilson Genetics). This project tests our ability to correlate grain yield and protein content before harvest. A potential outcome could be pre-harvest maps which would direct farmers harvest patterns allowing for segregation of higher protein corn.
• The Effectiveness and Economic Feasibility of Imaged-Based Scout Maps (Champaign, Ill.). Economic feasibility of producing scouting maps. This approach could improve the effectiveness of crop scouts in detecting and correcting crop stress.
• The Effectiveness and Economic Feasibility of Imaged-Based Tile Maps (Champaign, Ill.). Use remote sensing to locate tile lines in fields and sight new tile lines.

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