August
23 , 2002 * Volume 9 * Number 31
IN THIS ISSUE:
- NCGA DDGS Conference
Provides Education, Promotion of Co-Products
- NCGA Host to
AgriTalk Broadcast
- NCGA, Minnesota
Corn Growers Exchange Ideas During Corn Cob Open
- NCGA, Grains
Council Continue Partnership Efforts During Minnesota DDGS Conference
- NCGA's Snider
Discovers the Smell of Progress in Michigan
- NCGA Reminds
Growers to Send in Action Team/Committee Applications
NCGA DDGS
Conference Provides Education, Promotion of Co-Products
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With the recent boom in ethanol production, one of the co-products made
during the dry grind process that creates ethanol has been receiving
attention as well. Distillers dry grain solubles (DDGS), a livestock
feed additive, is the focus of the NCGA North Central Distillers Grains
Conference, wrapping up today in Prior Lake, Minn.
The sold-out event was held by NCGA after the corn growers conducted
a similar conference in November 2001, which was also very successful.
NCGA Livestock Programs and Information Manager Tracy Snider said the
reason NCGA is promoting co-products is simple: " NCGA promotes
DDGS because our members want us to, " she said. " We must
promote the value of ethanol and everything that comes from ethanol.
Distillers grain is not only a valuable product of itself, but it adds
even more value to ethanol, which is important to our growers, many
of whom own their own plants.
" What we '
ve seen so far is the demand and the need is there for DDGS education,
" Snider continued. " People want to use distillers grains,
but they don ' t know how, so in order to keep the value going for DDGS
and to keep improving this product, we have to keep educating the livestock
producers and nutritionists on how to best utilize it. "
She went on to say
symposiums such as this will benefit the ethanol industry and the nation
' s corn growers as a whole. " Meetings like this are beneficial
because they add value to our nation ' s ethanol plants, " she
said, " and as more corn growers become ethanol plant owners, this
is going to maintain the value of the products they are delivering.
"
NCGA Research and
Business Development Action Team member Jerry Larson agreed with Snider,
saying the more education provided on DDGS, the higher the value for
corn. " We ' ve got a growth industry here, " he said, "
and the timing is right for this conference. The promotion we really
want to focus on here is use of distillers grain in the different livestock
sectors. There ' s swine potential, poultry potential, and as we already
know, the long-term use in the dairy and beef industry. "
Larson said conferences
promoting co-products over ethanol is a change from what has been seen
in the past. " In the early days, " he said, " we were
focusing on filling the ethanol demand, but with the growth of the industry,
we ' re shifting our focus and promoting the value of DDGS for both
domestic use and for exports. There are many foreign delegations here
who have interest in the product, so the timing is right to promote
DDGS. "
During the meeting,
AgriTalk radio broadcast live with a panel of experts including Snider.
During the program, the panelists discussed issues ranging from transportation
of distillers grains to its customers to new markets for the product.
" Everyone
knows about its use in the beef market, " said John Goihl, an animal
nutritionist who sat on the panel, " but not everyone is aware
of the benefits DDGS can provide to the swine and poultry industries.
With newer ethanol plants coming online and the improvements made to
the dry-grind process, a higher quality product is available for swine.
"
Another panelist,
commodities trader Steve Markham, said DDGS are also extremely affordable.
" If every pig in the U.S. had 10 percent DDGS in its diet, it
could provide a 40-cent per pig reduction in the price of feed. Currently,
there are 3,000 tons a day nationwide of distillers grain being produced,
" he said, " so there is a consistent supply of the product.
"
NCGA is already
planning to host another DDGS Conference Oct. 30-31 at the Ambassador
Hotel in Amarillo, Texas. The NCGA Southwest DDGS Conference will be
coordinated through the Corn Producers Association of Texas and 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, as well as a focus on mycotoxins
and information on other feedstocks, such as sorghum.
NCGA Hosts
AgriTalk Broadcast
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The corporate offices of the NCGA became a radio studio Aug. 20 when
AgriTalk broadcasted live from St. Louis. AgriTalk host Mike Adams focused
his hour-long radio program on issues affecting the nation's corn growers,
such as the farm bill, ethanol, and trade, but the primary topic was
the Disaster Task Force recently created by NCGA.
"Our goal
is to assess the current situation concerning the adverse weather conditions
and how it's affecting growers," said Disaster Task Force Chairman
Ron Litterer, a grower from Greene, Iowa, who participated in the show.
"We're hoping to influence policy makers and get them to understand
our situation and, hopefully, change current policy concerning disaster
relief."
NCGA President
Tim Hume, who was also available for the show, said the task force has
a delicate mission ahead. "They have a touchy political situation
ahead of them," said the Walsh, Colo., corn grower. "The task
force is working to prove the growers in this country need this assistance
and what amount they will need. It will be difficult to obtain emergency
funds, but, hopefully, we will be able to work with Congress to get
the necessary money to the growers who need it.
"We understand
not every grower in the nation is suffering," continued Hume. "Some
growers are seeing a total loss, while some are seeing a pretty good
crop. We want to assess the overall situation and see who is affected
and how they can be helped."
Also representing
NCGA during the program were CEO Rick Tolman and Director of Production
and Marketing Paul Bertels. Bertels discussed current production trends
with Adams and Tolman described some of the misconceptions surrounding
the 2002 farm bill.
"There's been
a lot of misinformation about the farm bill," said Tolman. "Because
of the farm bill, only 11 percent of Americans' disposable income is
spent on food. That's lower than the vast majority of developed nations
around the world. The United States is able to provide cheaper food
to its citizens and the farm bill plays a large role in that. We recognize
it's not perfect, but there is a lot available in the bill that will
benefit growers."
Hume agreed. "For
all the people who criticize the farm bill, they need to realize it's
the most conservative one ever passed."
The show ended
with Tolman making a request to the nation's producers. "While
your elected officials are home during the Congressional recess,"
he said, "contact them and tell them you want to see a national
energy bill passed that includes a renewable fuels standard (RFS). This
is one of the most important issues facing growers right now and it's
vital we let our officials know essential it is to have this bill passed."
Growers can send
a letter to their congressman urging passage of the energy bill by visiting
the NCGA web site, www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com>.
NCGA, Minnesota Corn Growers Exchange Ideas During Corn Cob
Open
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The strength of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) lies within
the growers who are the strength of their state organizations. Last
week, NCGA President-Elect Fred Yoder and CEO Rick Tolman visited Minnesota
Corn Growers Association during its annual Minnesota State Corn Cob
Open, now in its 20th year. Minnesota Corn Growers use the proceeds
of the golf tournament to promote and assist their producers. Following
the tournament, Yoder and Tolman met with growers and members of Minnesota
' s checkoff board.
" Fred and
I were very impressed by what we saw and experienced, " said Tolman.
" It is a very large and well-organized event. We had a lot of
opportunity to get better acquainted with grower leaders from Minnesota
as well as a number of Minnesota ' s elected officials. " More
than 500 people attended the tournament Thursday and about 800 people
gathered for an outdoor barbecue and awards that evening.
The day after the
tournament, Tolman and Yoder got down to business, meeting with growers
and members of Minnesota ' s checkoff board. Tolman said their presentation
was a little unorthodox.
" We purposely
did not bring a prepared presentation, instead we fielded questions
and responded to their concerns, " he said. " We had an excellent
discussion focusing on NCGA structure and funding. The time went quickly,
but I think was well spent.
" We came away
with a better understanding of Minnesota's interests and concerns, "
Tolman continued, " and I think that we were able to clarify NCGA
structure with some of the newer folks who were less familiar with how
NCGA budgets work. "
Tolman said the
meetings were important to NCGA due to Minnesota ' s activity within
the national association. " Minnesota corn growers are an integral
part of NCGA, " he said. " They make up a large part of our
action teams and committees and the work they have done in the field
of ethanol and co-products is outstanding. In fact, they are hosting
our ethanol co-products meeting this week and the popularity of the
event has led to a sell-out crowd (See " NCGA Distillers Grains Conference Sold Out " <http://www.ncga.com/news/notd/2002/august/081502.htm>).
They also have interest in seeing more grassroots involvement and direction
coming forward.
" All in all,
it was a good series of meetings, " Tolman concluded. " In
retrospect, I wish that we would have had more time to discuss more
issues; three hours went too quickly. I learned a lot and got some very
good new ideas. "
NCGA, Grains
Council Continue Partnership Efforts During Minnesota DDGS Conference
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NCGA was pleased to see the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) work to build
international markets for distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)
this week as a team of Caribbean and Latin American corn buyers capped
off a weeklong research trip to the United States.
The team, escorted
by USGC Manager of International Operations Kurt Shultz, attended NCGA
' s North Central Distillers Grains Conference in Prior Lake, Minn.,
Aug. 21-23. The conference, cosponsored by the Minnesota Corn Research
and Promotion Council and the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board, provided
in-depth information on the use of DDGS in animal feed.
John Schnittker,
USGC manager of market analysis, was a featured speaker at the event
as he discussed the export opportunities for DDGS, an ethanol co-product.
In addition to attending the conference, the buyer team toured a number
of facilities in Iowa, where they were hosted by the Iowa Corn Growers
Association and Iowa Corn Promotion Board. "This trip is a follow
up to an activity we held in P anama earlier this year," said Shultz.
"We hand-chose a group of innovative millers who already use DDGS
and are willing to learn more about the market possibilities those products
present."
NCGA's
Snider Discovers the Smell of Progress in Michigan
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Would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet? William Shakespeare
penned those words centuries ago as part of his classic romantic play,
"Romeo and Juliet." NCGA Livestock Information and Programs
Manager Tracy Snider spent Tuesday at a place neither romantic, nor
sweet-smelling...the 2002 Manure Tour, held at the Nobis Dairy Farm
in St. Johns, Mich.
The Michigan Agriculture
Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) sponsored by the Corn Marketing
Program of Michigan, hosted the tour. Snider said the tour was beneficial
on a couple of fronts.
"What MAEAP
is doing is a voluntary program for self regulation on water quality
and manure management," she said. "The tour provides something
for everyone in the dairy and livestock industry from environmental
assurances to cost share opportunities."
The tour allowed
attendees to investigate the environmental threat of manure runoff from
open lots. "We discussed practical run-off reduction and management
practices including the high flow-low flow capture and treatment system
installed at the Nobis Farm."
Discussion also
included field management practices minimizing the risk of nutrients
entering surface and ground water from field applications of manure,
as well as learning the latest on taking advantage of the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) cost sharing opportunities.
NCGA Reminds
Growers to Send in Action Team/Committee Applications
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NCGA members planning to apply for action team/committee positions are
reminded the due date for applications is next Friday, Aug. 30. There
are openings on every team and committee, so members are encouraged
to take this opportunity to submit an application for consideration.
Applications materials are available at the Leader
Resource Center (<http://www.insidencga.com/?p=916>). Growers
needing an application mailed, faxed or emailed to them can contact
Kathy Baker at 636-733-9004 ext. 111 or baker@ncga.com<mailto:baker@ncga.com>.
NCGA THIS WEEK
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- Aug. 26 NCGA
CEO Rick Tolman will be in Greeley, Colo., attending a Colorado Corn
Growers Association board meeting and also a Farm Bill implementation
meeting later in the afternoon
- Aug. 27 NCGA
President Tim Hume will be in Lamar, Colo., attending a Farm Bill
implementation meeting
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