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NCGA
President Looks Forward to Opportunities of 2002 (1-2-02)
The National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) has met - and exceeded -- many goals over
the past year: passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in the House
of Representatives, the successful promotion of ethanol to boost energy
security and proving -- through sound science --\, biotechnology presents
great opportunities for higher yields and higher quality crops to farmers
who need it and have determined there is a market for their harvested
grain.
But an organization
is only as good as what it accomplishes in the present and NCGA President
and Walsh, Colo., corn grower Tim Hume realizes this. "I'm pretty
happy with what we've been able to do in 2001," he said, "but
there is still more that needs to be done.
"Our top priority
is getting a balanced Farm Bill written as soon as possible," Hume
continued. "While NCGA members were disappointed that Congress
was unable to get this done before the new year, we're also confident
our elected officials understand our desire to have a Farm Bill passed
and will do what they can to achieve this."
Hume said another
priority is continuing the promotion of ethanol. "We had two very
successful ethanol workshops in St. Louis and Lincoln, Nebraska, this
year and we're already getting requests for another," he said,
discussing the "So You Want to Build an Ethanol Plant" seminars.
"We're seeing ethanol plants coming online at a rapid pace and
that can only be positive. It's providing hundreds of jobs and giving
corn growers an expanded market for their product, as well as supplying
a safer, cleaner-burning alternative to petroleum.
He added that NCGA
also completed two successful ethanol outreach programs in California
and New York, helping to lay the groundwork for expanded ethanol demand
and production in those states.
"We're also
looking at options with ethanol co-products such as Distillers Dried
Grain Solubles or DDGS," Hume added. "NCGA, along with Nebraska
and South Dakota corn checkoff and grower associations, sponsored a
seminar to discuss the feeding benefits and marketing opportunities
of DDGS. We'd look for more work in these areas in 2002."
Another battle NCGA
will continue to fight in the new year concerns the rivers -- preventing
a spring-rise situation on the Missouri River and pushing for updated
locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers..
"Altering the
flow of the Missouri River would pose a risk to growers in that area,"
said Hume, "causing floods in the spring and a significant drop
in the water level during the summer which will make transportation
impossible.
"We see the
transportation issue again with the antiquated lock-and-dams system
on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers," he continued. "Today's
barges are too large for the current system and our access to overseas
markets suffers as a result. We need to accommodate these larger barges
and, therefore, allow grower to send more of their product to these
markets."
On the subject of
TPA, Hume said getting it passed was only the beginning. "NCGA
will continue to support President Bush and let him know the nation's
corn growers need TPA in order to expand their markets on a global scale."
Hume concluded by
saying how proud he was of NCGA and its members. "NCGA is an organization
that changes and, I think, improves with the times -- and I don't see
2002 being any different. I'm proud of our members and I'm proud to
be their president.
Last reviewed
January 2, 2002
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