Key
Commodity Officials to Address NCGA Corn Congress (7-11-03)
Leaders of the
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) are preparing for their semi-annual
Corn Congress July 14-15 in Washington, D.C. This year, key speakers
for the event will be Rick Berman, executive director of the Center
for Consumer Freedom, James E. Newsome, chairman of the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), this
year's recipient of the NCGA President's Award.
The purpose of
Corn Congress is twofold:
NCGA President
Fred Yoder said the meeting gives the organization an opportunity
to hone the policies and rulings made throughout the year. "It
also gives the action teams an opportunity to meet and for the delegate
body to meet, so it's a great communications tool," said the
Plain City, Ohio, corn grower.
"One of the
reasons we meet in Washington is to push our legislative issues before
the August congressional recess," he continued. "This year,
our big issue is obviously the renewable fuels standard (RFS) and
we'll be talking more about getting our crop insurance survey done.
We'll also be discussing issues such as country of origin labeling
and payment limitations."
NCGA action teams
will meet before Corn Congress on July 12-13. The four action teams
- Research and Business Development, Public Policy, Production and
Stewardship, and Grower Services - as well as the Biotech Working
Group and the Ethanol Committee, will discuss the status of each team's
projects, plans and strategies for the coming year. NCGA growers from
26 states will also visit their elected officials and congressional
leaders during the week to discuss issues affecting the nation's corn
growers.
Watch the NCGA
web site, www.ncga.com, the week
of July 14 for Corn Congress reports and photos.