IN THIS ISSUE:

• NCGA to Take Successful Ethanol Plant Workshop to California
• NCGA Optimistic by California Refiners' Decision to Move to Ethanol
• NCGA Sees Road to the Energy Bill Half Traveled
• NCGA Spreads the Good Word of Biotech During European Visit
• NCGA Corn Board Visits Capitol Hill, Stresses Need for Farm Bill, RFS Passage
• NCGA Livestock Manager Discusses Co-Products At Animal Science Conference
• NCGA C&BD Action Team Reviews Projects, Prepares Budget During Meeting
• NCGA President Talks Biotech, Trade, Market During AgDay Appearance
• NCGA's Knight Named New NRCS Chief
  
  

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NCGA to Take Successful Ethanol Plant Workshop to California

In the past year, the NCGA has hosted two successful "So You Want To Build An Ethanol Plant" meetings, one in St. Louis, one in Lincoln, Neb. Now, NCGA is taking its ethanol program on the road again, hosting a third meeting in Sacramento, Wednesday, April 3.

"This meeting will provide both the perspectives of consultants in the field," said NCGA Director of Production and Marketing Paul Bertels, "as
well as practical experience of farmers who have opened farmer-owned plants. Ultimately the goal is to provide growers with the information and resources they will need to face the challenges of opening an ethanol plant."

This conference is designed for those growers who have already started constructing an ethanol plant, or those advanced beyond the point of just discussing the process. "We have set up the agenda to answer some of the pivotal questions growers typically raise," said Bertels. "We will have a number of experts discuss topics such as community relations, business organizations, finance and capital acquisitions, site selection, and product marketing."

The first seminar held in early June 2001 in St. Louis, as well as the second held in Lincoln, Neb., in November of 2001 were very successful, said Bertels, and NCGA had fielded several queries as to when another would be conducted. "Corn growers are realizing the doors being opened by ethanol," he said.

"Whether you're looking at ethanol from the environmental standpoint, or the fact it's a new market for growers, or the fact that every new ethanol plant built in the U.S. creates several new jobs, people want to know how they can get involved. This seminar is perfect for growers who have a serious interest in opening a plant in their area."

For registration information, contact Bertels at 636-733-9004 ext. 131 or e-mail at bertels@ncga.com.

For more information on ethanol, please visit the NCGA website at http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/main/index.htm.

NCGA Optimistic by California Refiners' Decision to Move to Ethanol

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week several California refiners are contemplating a move to ethanol that is in line with the
original MTBE ban proposed by Gov. Gray Davis three years ago. National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Director of Energy Analysis John McClelland said that would mean a removal of MTBE from Califonia's gasoline by Jan. 1, 2003, instead of waiting an additional year as Davis has mandated with a recent extension of the ban.

"We thought there would be several refiners who would want to move forward because of the investments they have made to get ready to use ethanol," said McClelland. "Once those investments have been made, there is no incentive to keep using MTBE, especially when your liability exposure from MTBE continues to mount." NCGA has long been a proponent of ethanol and was stunned and disappointed when Davis issued the statement extending the use of MTBE for another year.

McClelland went on to say this could mean that a significant amount of ethanol could move into California in 2002, but the uncertainty is too great for anyone to make a prediction about how much ethanol that might be. "We need to keep a close eye on the situation and have more solid information before we make any predictions about how much ethanol goes to California next year," McClelland concluded.

NCGA Sees Road to the Energy Bill Half Traveled

As NCGA looks forward to the resumption of debate on the Senate Energy Bill on April 9, it may be useful to review where we have been over the past few months. With the help of core Senate support led by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), and Senate Energy Committee Members, Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Tim Johnson (D-SD), the vision of a renewable fuel standard (RFS) was included in the Senate Energy Bill introduced last December.

Shortly after the New Year, representatives from NCGA, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) met to hammer a historic agreement that has paved the way for the RFS provisions to move toward final passage in the Senate.The NCGA/RFA/AFBF/API agreement enhanced the package already contained in the Senate Energy Bill and also brought together a powerful coalition that is at the center of the political support for the entire Energy Bill. All of these organizations are on record supporting a comprehensive energy policy like that represented in the Senate bill S. 517.

However, the next few weeks will be critical for the RFS and the bill as a whole. Some Senators led by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) want to amend the RFS provisions. We will be working to defeat any amendments to the RFS. In addition, there are still contentious issues such as drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that could derail the entire bill.

Although there is a great deal of uncertainty, we should remain hopeful that the RFS will be past the Senate floor by the end of April.

NCGA Spreads the Good Word of Biotech During European Visit

Representatives of the NCGA were in Europe last week to spread the word on biotechnology and provide education to those who may have doubts. Biotech Working Group Chairman and Assumption, Ill., corn grower Leon Corzine and Director of Public Policy Keira Franz have been talking to European media and farmers about the benefits U.S. growers are reaping thanks to biotech. "I've talked to local print and television media," said Corzine while in Switzerland, "about my perspective as a grower on biotech. I've also told them about NCGA and our message on using sound-science to make an informed decision on whether biotech is right for you and your situation."

Corzine said the circumstances in Switzerland currently aren't biotech-friendly. "They have a complete biotech ban for the next 10 years,"
he said. "They can't plant any kind of biotech crops or have it in their livestock feed. I talked to one dairy operator who won't use soybeans for
livestock feed over fear of accidentally using biotech beans."

During a stop in Brussels, Belgium, Corzine was also invited to speak at the world headquarters of Syngenta, who also sponsored the trip for the NCGA representatives. "Our goal is to let employees know that growers in the United States. are benefiting from biotechnology," said Corzine. "I told explained how my son and I operate a family farm, how I make planting decisions and why I plant biotech crops."

NCGA Corn Board Visits Capitol Hill, Stresses Need for Farm Bill, RFS Passage

The NCGA Corn Board recently met in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues affecting the 32,000-member organization and the 300,000 corn growers it represents in the U.S. Topping the list of priorities was the passage of a national energy bill and the 2002 farm bill.

"We discussed the current-year budget quite a bit," said NCGA President and Walsh, Colo., corn grower Tim Hume, "but our main focus was on farm bill and renewable fuel standard (RFS) strategy."

A couple of changes were made during the two-day meeting as well. The NCGA Ethanol Marketing Committee is now the Ethanol Committee and the Customer and Business Development Action Team will now be called the Research and Business Development Action Team.

In the afternoon, the Corn Board broke up into three groups and, along with NCGA staff, visited various offices on Capitol Hill, including USDA Under Secretary J.B. Penn; Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative Allen Johnson; DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary Denise Swink; and a dinner with Special Assistant to the President for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance Chuck Conner.

"The purpose of the Hill visits," said Hume, "was to let our officials know we need to get a farm bill completed as soon as possible, the RFS and our push to get a national energy bill through the Senate, and also our concerns on the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) issue and Mexican trade, along with other general trade issues.

"Overall," Hume concluded, "I would say the visits were positive. I was with the farm bill group and people are pushing very hard to get a farm bill done. There are some contingencies to work through, but they are working hard to get through those and they understand the urgency. They have come to an agreement on spending allocations and that is a breakthrough in the discussions and will hopefully set the stage for getting a conference report."

DID YOU KNOW??

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NCGA Livestock Manager Discusses Co-Products at Animal Science Conference

The NCGA recognizes the importance of its customers and there is no bigger customer of corn in the U.S. than the livestock industry. That's why Tracy Snider, NCGA livestock programs and information manager, recently attended the 2002 American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. Many prominent nutritionists and researchers travel to this meeting to see the most recent and up-to-date presentations on animal research.

While at the three-day symposium, Snider met with representatives from one of the top enzyme companies in the U.S. to discuss co-products. "I talked with their researchers concerning studies they are pursuing on the preservation of wet distillers grains through a proprietary enzyme and acid formula," she said. "Right now, the research looks promising, however more investigation is warranted."

Also meeting with Snider in Des Moines was Dr. Glenn Wehner of Truman State University to review the progress of the Co-Product Literature Review. She said the review is scheduled to be completed by May 15 and set to be published June 1.

"The main challenge," Snider said, "remains the time lag between requests for trials and the return. However, many studies have surfaced due to this literature review, including older research on aquaculture and companion animals with distillers grains, as well as expected research on production livestock."

Over 300 studies were presented during the meeting, including: Animal Behavior, Housing and Well-Being; Growth, Development, Muscle Biology and Meat Science; Odor and Nutrition Management; Physiology; and Ruminant Nutrition and Forages.

NCGA C&BD Action Team Reviews Projects, Prepares Budget During Meeting

The NCGA Customer and Business Development Action Team (now known as the Research and Business Development Action Team) met recently in Golden, Colo., to review the progress of ongoing projects, to prioritize activities and to prepare next year's budget.

Several presentations were given by members of the Team, including a discussion on genome traits by NCGA Director of Plant Biology Richard Glass; a presentation on co-products as well as electronic services and marketing tools given by NCGA Livestock Information and Programs Manager Tracy Snider; a review of AgVision 2020 by NCGA Vice President of Operations Mike Rohan; and discussions of extremophiles and 1,3-propanediol by NCGA Director of Business Development Rene Shunk.

The highlight of the meeting was a tour of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where researchers were invited to speak on the progress of the bio-refinery work being done at the facility.

"This meeting represented the overall mission the action team is pursuing through Technology for New Uses and Business Opportunity Development," said CBDAT Chairman and Oelwein, Iowa, corn grower Vic Miller.

"The purpose of our Action Team," continued Miller, "is to direct the investment of NCGA-allocated resources in significant research and business development projects that will build a renewable products industry with corn as the chief feedstock and increase the utilization of corn and identify and capture opportunities to add value and increase grower profit."

For more information on NCGA's research programs, visit the NCGA website at http://www.ncga.com/research/main/index.html.

NCGA Presidents Talks Biotech, Trade, Market During AgDay Appearance

The President of the NCGA Tim Hume was a guest recently on the syndicated television program AgDay. The focus of the special edition of the program was "Marketing Your Crop."

"We discussed the corn market outlook for both near-term and the three- to five-year outlook," said Hume, a grower from Walsh, Colo. "I think it's a pretty positive position for the nation's corn growers."

Hume said he also discussed NCGA's viewpoints on biotechnology and trade during his appearance on the 30-minute program.

For growers interested in viewing the program, it is being run on the internet at http://www.agday.com and will be run on television starting
Saturday, March 30. Check your local listings for time and channel.

NCGA's Knight Named New NRCS Chief

Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman has named NCGA Vice President of Public Policy Bruce Knight as chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

NRCS works directly with private landowners to help them implement conservation measures, and with a broad array of state and local groups to sustain and enhance environmental quality.

For the past seven years, Knight has directed NCGA's legislative and regulatory strategies as well as managed NCGA's lobbying staff in
Washington, D.C. He also was responsible for ensuring coordination of government relations programs with staff at NCGA headquarters in St. Louis and with the 25 state affiliate corn grower organizations.

NCGA THIS WEEK

• April 2 NCGA Chairman Lee Klein, CEO Rick Tolman and Director of Business Development Rene Shunk will be in Blair, Neb., attending the opening of the PLA plant
• April 3 Shunk will be in Decatur, Ill., attending a fiber utilization meeting at Archer Daniel Midland
• April 4-6 Klein, NCGA Director of Production and Marketing Paul Bertels and Livestock Information and Programs Manager Tracy Snider will be in Sacremento, Calif., attending the "So You Want To Build An Ethanol Plant III" workshop
• April 4-5 Shunk will be in Pasco, Wash., attending a 1-3, propanediol update meeting
  

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE