IN THIS ISSUE:

• NCGA Updates Farm Bill Calculator to Reflect USDA Implementation Rules
• NCGA Sees Challenges, Opportunities in Election Results
• As War with Iraq Looms, NCGA Continues to Push for Renewable Fuels
• NCGA Applauds Oregon Voters' Stance on Biotech
• Corn Growers Continue to Battle Inclement Weather During Harvest
• NCGA Reminds Growers of Nov. 12, Nov. 18 LDP Deadlines
• NCGA Returns to California to Present Benefits of Building Ethanol Industry
• NCGA DDGS Program Continues Success With Stop in Texas

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[This is Corn Commentary, the weekly newsletter for state and national grower leaders of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) available via the U.S. Postal Service. For complete stories and updated NCGA information, visit www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com> or the NCGA Leader Resource Center, www.insidencga.com <http://www.insidencga.com>.]
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NCGA Updates Farm Bill Calculator to Reflect USDA Implementation Rules

The NCGA Public Policy Action Team, with the help of the Center for Agricultural Rural Development, has updated its Farm Bill Calculator to reflect the most recent implementation rules set out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the Direct and Countercyclical Payment Program.

Two major changes have been made in the program. First, the yield used for the "yield plug" has been changed from a planted acre to a harvested acre basis. Second, the calculation of the maximum amount of eligible soybean acres has been changed to capture the modifications USDA made in October on the setting of oilseed base for the direct and countercyclical programs.

USDA's previous method of calculation used to determine oilseed bases when oilseeds were added to an existing 2002 PFC resulted in unintended disparities in the amount of oilseed bases that could be credited to farms. Farms that planted oilseeds in a 100 percent year-to-year corn/soybean rotation were at a disadvantage compared to farms that planted in a 50/50 corn/soybean rotation. The calculator can be downloaded from the NCGA web site: www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com>.

NCGA Sees Challenges, Opportunities in Election Results

Tuesday's elections created changes in the makeup of the Congress for both the lame duck session and the 108th Congress. For the energy bill and the renewable fuels standard (RFS), the elections created both challenges and opportunities, according to National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Vice President of Public Policy Jon Doggett. The election of Jim Talent in Missouri and Norm Colman in Minnesota will give the Republicans a majority in the Senate for the lame duck session once they are certified by their state election officials and sworn in. When this happens, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) will likely become the Majority Leader, replacing Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD). But, Doggett added, not all is lost. "While the Senate Republicans are not pleased with the Senate energy bill - written by Daschle - there are those senators who still want a bill this year." Doggett said NCGA is hoping the White House will weigh in to support passage of the energy bill this year. Corn growers and other RFS supporters can urge their senators to support the energy bill by clicking on the action alert at www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com>.

As War with Iraq Looms, NCGA Continues to Push for Renewable Fuels

As tensions swell with Iraq, U.S. concerns are mounting about the availability of oil should the nation enter war. Reports are indicating the thought of attacking Iraq had made crude oil prices jump to $25.91 a barrel. As the Washington Post reported on Sept. 18, "All things Iraq are driving the price and supply of oil these days." This sentiment is not new to NCGA, which continuously lobbies the importance of energy security. NCGA supports expanding the use of renewable fuels in the United States to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. A renewable fuels standard (RFS) could displace 1.6 billion gallons of imported oil over the next decade and cut U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources, which account for nearly 60 percent of our nation's fuel supply. Currently, the ethanol industry has the capacity to meet projected ethanol demand through 2005. The gradual phase-in of renewable fuels as detailed in the energy bill was designed to match the capacity of U.S. ethanol-producing plants. Further, given the short lead time to build an ethanol plant, the U.S. could easily produce 5 billion gallons a day by 2012. To let your member of Congress know your support for passing the RFS this year, click on the action alert at www.ncga.com <http://www.ncga.com>.

NCGA Applauds Oregon Voters' Stance on Biotech
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NCGA was pleased to see biotechnology win a major victory this week when Oregon voters went to the polls on Tuesday to overwhelmingly vote against an initiative requiring foods derived from biotech be labeled. The voter-sponsored proposal only garnered 27 percent of the vote; if passed, the measure would have been the first in the country. Opponents of the proposal raised more than $5.2 million from corporate sponsors and launched a media campaign, while the initiative's supporters were only able to raise less than $200,000 and were virtually silent on the airwaves.

Corn Growers Continue to Battle Inclement Weather During Harvest

In a season that has seen everything from massive flooding to crippling drought, corn growers across the nation are still being affected by adverse weather. Midwest growers are seeing everything from flash floods to massive snowstorms as they attempt to finish their harvests.

"Well, it's slowed (our harvesting efforts) down," said NCGA member and Cosmos, Minn., corn grower Duane Adams, who has seen several inches of snow over the last week. "The big problem we've had is the corn moisture has been higher than normal so we have to dry all of it.'' Matt Gibson, a grower farming out of Morocco, Ind., said his work also has been impeded by the weather, in his case, rain. "It's definitely made the fields a little sloppy," he said. "We're trying to get our last bit of acreage out, but we're just not seeing any sunshine." Gibson said while he still has about 20 percent of his corn to harvest, he's not worried about losing any of the crop. Weather trends are looking to improve, however. The USDA has reported a gradual warming trend is melting snow cover across areas in the north and promoting some drying of wet fields in the south.

NCGA Reminds Growers of Nov. 12, Nov. 18 LDP Deadlines

NCGA is reminding growers they may be eligible to apply for loan deficiency payments because of an extension under the 2002 Farm Bill. (LDP). USDA has set deadlines for LDP applications as Nov. 12 for 2001 crop grains and rice and Nov. 18 for 2001 crop upland cotton. The 2002 farm bill expanded eligibility to non-PFC farms. Further, producers who lost beneficial interest in 2001 crop marketing loan commodities prior to applying for LDPs, whether produced on a PFC or non-PFC farm, may be eligible.

NCGA Returns to California to Present Benefits of Building Ethanol Industry

NCGA representatives will head to the West Coast later next week in an effort to share their extensive knowledge on ethanol with parties interested in kick starting the ethanol industry in California. An NCGA contingent including Past President Lee Klein, Ethanol Committee member Duane Adams and Director of Production and Economics Paul Bertels will conduct a seminar on ethanol production Nov. 14-15 in Modesto, Calif., focusing on the benefits ethanol production can provide to the state. Ethanol hasn't been a popular topic in the Golden State in recent years, considering California Gov. Gray Davis has done everything in his power to prevent ethanol from being used as a fuel additive, including extending the use of MTBE another year before a proposed ban will take place.

NCGA DDGS Program Continues Success With Stop in Texas

Nearly 70 registered guests learned the benefits of distillers' dry grain solubles at NCGA's third DDGS seminar in 12 months. NCGA headed to Texas Oct. 30-31 with the latest installment of its DDGS educational conference, sponsored by the Texas Corn Producers Board and the National Grain Sorghum Producers Board.

Representatives of the ethanol industry, agriculture and academia attended the event, which included informative sessions on the various uses for DDGS, feeding recommendations for beef, swine, and poultry, and a feed industry round table discussion, which was broadcast live by AgriTalk radio.

NCGA THIS WEEK

• Nov. 11-12 NCGA Staff meeting in St. Louis
• Nov. 13-15 NCGA Director of Production and Economics Paul Bertels and Livestock Information and Programs Manager Tracy Snider at Building the Ethanol Industry meeting in Modesto, Calif.
• Nov. 13-15 NCGA President Fred Yoder, President-Elect Dee Vaughan, Vice President of Public Policy Jon Doggett, Director of Communications Mimi Ricketts and Strategic Marketing Communications Manager Gary Bradley in Kansas City, Mo., attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasters annual convention
• Nov. 14 NCGA CEO Rick Tolman at the Governors' Ethanol Coalition meeting in Chesterfield, Mo.
  

© 2002 National Corn Growers Association

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE