IN THIS ISSUE:

• NCGA Unveils Farm Bill Calculator to Assist Growers
• NCGA Board Nominates Vaughan President-Elect
• NCGA Names Doggett to Public Policy Post
• NCGA Supports Farm Bill at Commodity Roundtable
• NCGA Continues Ethanol Co-Products Education Program with Distillers Grains Conference
• Corps Study on Missouri River On Hold, Fish and Wildlife Service 'Not Satisfied'
• NCGA Research Provides New Markets, PLA Latest Example
• Refiners Continue Early Switch to Ethanol, NCGA Calls Price Hike Fears Unwarranted
  

NCGA Unveils Farm Bill Calculator to Assist Growers

The NCGA has unveiled a Farm Bill Guide and Calculator, a tool growers can use to take the guesswork out of figuring direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, marketing loan assistance and total program benefits for producers of corn, barley, cotton, oats, rice, sorghum, soybeans and wheat.

By using NCGA’s Farm Bill Calculator, developed in cooperation with the Center for Agriculture & Rural Development, producers can input their county loan rates to get the big picture on their payments.

NCGA is compiling a pocket-sized guide to the Farm Bill that will include the calculator on a computer disk as a convenient tool for association members. The Farm Bill calculator can be downloaded from www.ncga.com in either one zip file or in three separate files. Once downloaded, farmers can input the specific information from their operation and find out what benefits they will receive.

In addition to the guide and calculator, NCGA is working with states to host Farm Bill education meetings throughout the summer.

DID YOU KNOW??

There are 62 ethanol plants with the production capacity of 2.4 billion gallons per year. Twenty-six of these are farmer-owned. There are 14 ethanol plants under construction with the capacity of 435 million gallons per year. Ten of these are farmer-owned. Of the 62 current plants, 6 are undergoing expansions – totaling 80 million gallons per year.

NCGA Board Nominates Vaughan President-Elect

“The strength of the NCGA is good people working for a common purpose,” says Dee Vaughan, who was nominated this week by NCGA’s Corn Board to be the organization’s president-elect. A delegation of the nation’s corn growers will ratify the nomination in July at NCGA’s Corn Congress in Washington, D.C.

Vaughan, speaking before the Corn Board at its meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, said this common purpose reminds him of a story about a banquet recently held in D.C. The caterers would have just enough pats of butter if only one pat was placed at each setting. As a server was placing the allotted amount on each bread plate, a senator seated nearby requested more butter.

The server told the senator that he was sorry, but he could not supply more butter. The senator asked, “Do you know who I am?” The server answered that he did not and the senator proceeded to tell him. When the senator was finished, the server asked the senator: “Do you know who I am?” The senator, surprised, replied, “Well, no, I don’t.” The server told him, “I am the man with the butter.”

Vaughan told the board the server is the grower, no matter which state he is from. “I want to do everything possible to represent the guy with the butter,” he said.

While farm bill implementation takes shape, Vaughan points to the future as NCGA concentrates on Trade Promotion Authority, value-added and the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Vaughan, who hails from Dumas, Texas, farms corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and various grains for seed with his wife, Terri. A farmer for 23 years, Vaughan serves as the liaison to NCGA’s Public Policy Action Team and has held many leadership positions at his state corn growers’ association and state board.

In October, Tim Hume of Walsh, Colo., will hand over the president’s gavel to current President-Elect Fred Yoder of Plain City, Ohio.

NCGA Names Doggett to Public Policy Post

The NCGA has named Jon Doggett as vice president of public policy. In this position, Doggett will be responsible for administration of trade, farm bill and legislative programs. He will be based in NCGA’s Washington, D.C. office.

Doggett brings to NCGA a wealth of experience in government relations. Most recently, he was senior director of congressional affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), where he managed regulatory and legislative projects, including energy, federal lands, land use, natural resources and climate issues.

“We’re very excited to have Jon join the NCGA staff,” said Rick Tolman, NCGA CEO. “He has a strong knowledge of the issues NCGA is committed to—most notably renewable fuels, energy policy and farm policy. Together, his agricultural background and his strengths in grassroots advocacy are assets for this position. No doubt, the organization will benefit from Jon’s strong professional working style; he is accomplished at getting things done.”

In addition to his position at AFBF, Doggett was deputy director at the Public Lands Council, were he served as legislative director representing livestock producers grazing federal lands; and he served as senior legislative assistant for agriculture and business issues for Rep. Ron Marlenee (R-MT).

Doggett has a degree in finance and journalism from the University of Montana. He will join the organization July 15.

NCGA Supports Farm Bill at Commodity Roundtable

To defend agriculture from attacks spurred by the signing of the 2002 Farm Bill, the NCGA took part in a Commodity Roundtable meeting hosted by the Cotton Council last week in Washington, D.C. Representing NCGA were President Tim Hume, CEO Rick Tolman, and Directors of Public Policy Sam Willett and Keira Franz.

Responding to lingering dissention over the bill and the need to clear up public misperceptions, NCGA agreed to spearhead a series of congressional visits.

In addition to the congressional meetings, the American Farm Bureau will coordinate an effort to get the groups' communications professionals together to share information and ideas on rebutting some of the inaccurate claims about the farm bill and U.S. farm subsidies.

There was a consensus that severe political damage is occurring because of the lingering dissention over of the farm bill, so the group came up with a statement (see below) designed to say regardless of imperfections in the farm bill, the greater good is served by agreeing that the debate is over and done and we need to move forward.

Other important agriculture issues were discussed as well, including trade issues with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the renewable fuels standard (RFS) in the energy bill, which is currently in conference.

The following is the joint statement issued by the participants of the Commodity Roundtable meeting:

The undersigned commodity and farm organizations unanimously support the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 as enacted. We share a common concern about unjustified criticisms that erode public confidence in U.S. agriculture and weaken the ability to maintain agricultural policy that both serves the public interest and helps to preserve a viable U.S. agricultural sector. We are further concerned about the potential detrimental effect of the criticisms on the ability of U.S. negotiations to protect the interests of U.S. agriculture and U.S. consumers in new WTO agreements.

American Farm Bureau
National Farmers Union
National Corn Growers Association
National Association of Wheat Growers
American Soybean Association
National Barley Growers Association
National Cotton Council
U.S. Canola Association
National Sunflower Association
U.S. Rice Federation
U.S. Rice Producers' Association
Southern Peanut Farmers Federation
Western Peanut Growers
National Grain Sorghum Producers
United Egg Producers
American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers

NCGA Continues Ethanol Co-Products Education Program with Distillers Grains Conference

Registration is under way for the NCGA Distillers Grains conference Aug. 21-23 in Prior Lake, Minn.

The NCGA North Central Distillers Grains Conference, sponsored by the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, the Wisconsin Ethanol Promotion Board, the Midwest DDGS Association, is for anyone involved in ethanol co-products fed to livestock and poultry. Sessions include nutrition reports, first-hand experiences, and future production and market trends of DDGS, said NCGA Livestock Information and Programs Manager Tracy Snider.

The two-day conference is designed to dispel myths concerning ethanol co-products. Snider said animal nutritionists, feed consultants, commodity marketers, and co-product merchandisers will benefit most from attending.

Attendees can register online at http://www.ncga.com/research/ddg/form.htm or by contacting Jennifer Mueller at 636-733-9004 ext. 118 or mueller@ncga.com. Registration is $150 per person, or $95 per person with a group (two or more) discount before July 19. After that date, a late fee of $50 will be added.

For more information on the conference, visit the NCGA website at http://www.ncga.com/research/ddg/index.htm.

Corps Study on Missouri River on Hold, Fish and Wildlife Service 'Not Satisfied'

In a move called a victory by the NCGA, it was announced Monday the Army Corps of Engineers is delaying its statement on the preferred alternative for operation of the Missouri River.

The delay was ordered by the Bush administration because the Fish and Wildlife Service was not satisfied with the Corps’ prepared alternative. The White House Council on Environmental Quality ordered the two agencies to develop a unified policy.

“It’s definitely a win for farmers,” said NCGA Production and Marketing Director Paul Bertels. “The Corps found during their study that a spring-rise situation is not going to provide the so-called benefits the environmental groups said it would. The water would not be deep enough, long enough to provide any benefit for the pallid sturgeon.” Advocates of spring rise had claimed breeding patterns of the sturgeon were being altered and the best way to remedy the problem was controlled flooding of the affected area.

Bertels said while the battle may be won, the war isn’t over. “We still have a long way to go,” he said. “But this is a victory because cooler heads have prevailed. They realized that flooding farmland and causing hundreds of growers and their families to not only lose their land but quite possibly their homes isn’t an avenue they want to pursue.”

For more information on the Missouri River and the Army Corps of Engineers study, visit the NCGA website at http://www.ncga.com/transportation/main/index.html.

NCGA Research Provides New Markets, PLA Latest Example

The nation’s corn growers can sleep better, knowing research spearheaded by the NCGA is providing new markets for their products, the latest of which is bedding made from corn-derived PLA.

Under the brand name NatureWorks, the bedding is distributed through the Pacific Coast Feather Company and represents the first consumer launch of products made from NatureWorks fibers in North America. The new fibers deliver loft and durability without the environmental shortcomings of petroleum-based, polyester fibers.

“PLA is an excellent example of the types of new products that can be manufactured from corn,” said NCGA Director of Business Development Rene Shunk. “The PLA fiber is manufactured by Cargill Dow out of their plant in Blair, Neb., using sugar from corn starch as the raw material. Through simple fermentation, and polymerization, cornstarch can be converted into a usable polymer that can be used in filling applications.”

For more information on PLA and other research projects, visit the NCGA web site at http://www.ncga.com/research/main/index.html.

Refiners Continue Early Switch to Ethanol, NCGA Calls Price Hike Fears Unwarranted

Shell Oil Products US said Wednesday it would switch to ethanol in California by the end of 2002, a year ahead of the state's ban on gasoline additive MTBE.

Tim Hume, president of the NCGA, says Shell's decision piggybacks BP Plc's move last month to switch to ethanol at its California refineries by the end of the year. NCGA learned from ChevronTexaco Corp. spokesperson Nicole Hodgson that at the company's Richmond, Calif., refinery, 3 billion gallons of gasoline without MTBE already has been produced.

Phillips Petroleum Co. blends 80 percent of its gasoline with ethanol and experts say BP's market share - the No. 1 gasoline marketer in California - may be enough to force others like Exxon Mobil Corp. and independent refinery Valero Energy Corp. to catch up.

California Gov. Gray Davis has ordered that methyl tertiary butyl ether, which has been found to pollute ground water supplies, be phased out by Dec. 31, 2003. Although in 1999 Davis banned the use of MTBE by the end of 2002, in March he extended phase-out by one year, citing ethanol supply concerns.

Critics who cry supply concerns are now saying that consumers could expect to pay more at gasoline stations in California. According to David J. Hackett, an oil industry consultant whose firm warned Gov. Davis in February that replacing MTBE with ethanol would decrease the state's gasoline supply, there will be a significant increase in gasoline prices due to conversion from MTBE to ethanol additives in gasoline. Hackett told the Contra Costa Times that prices could jump next spring to between $2.25 and $3 a gallon.

John McClelland, NCGA director of energy and analysis, says it's unfathomable that ethanol will be the cause of such gasoline price hikes. "Prices of ethanol in California will reflect Midwest prices plus transportation," McClelland said. "The average production cost is in the range of 95 cents to $1.10 per gallon. Ethanol competes with gasoline and gasoline components. This competition tends to moderate gasoline prices in areas where ethanol is used. That means savings for consumers."

NCGA THIS WEEK

• June 24-25 NCGA Vice President of Marketing Brian Stockman will be in Fargo, N.D., attending a North Dakota Corn Growers Association board meeting
• June 24 NCGA Research and Business Development Manager Nathan Danielson will be attending a fiber fermentation project update meeting in Chicago
• June 26-28 NCGA CEO Rick Tolman and Livestock Programs and Information Manager Tracy Snider will be in Springfield, Ill., attending the BBI International Fuel Ethanol Workshop
  

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE