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| NCGA
Corn Board member Jamie Jamison discusses the Future Structure
of Agriculture Task Force report “Taking Ownership of
Grainbelt Agriculture” at the Maryland Commodity Classic
July 28. |
Value-Added
Agriculture Focus for NCGA at Maryland Grain Producers Commodity
Classic (8-9-05)
National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Board member Jamie Jamison spoke
to attendees at the Maryland Commodity Classic on July 28 on how
the NCGA Future Structure of Agriculture Task Force report “Taking
Ownership of Grainbelt Agriculture” can be applied to corn
states like Maryland.
“We are
studying the issue of value-added agriculture here in Maryland,”
said Jamison, a corn grower from Dickerson, Md. “Maryland
producers are looking at keeping the state’s agriculture industry
sustainable and viable and many of the key recommendations and findings
in this report can be extrapolated and made viable to our state,
or any other state for that matter.”
Jamison said
the principles in the report apply to all corn states. He also emphasized
the importance of being involved and growing the value-added agriculture
sector. “As producers, we have to be the owners of value-added
agricultural businesses if we want to get more than the Chicago
Board of Trade price for our corn.”
Attendees were also involved in discussions focusing on the recent
legislative victories on Capitol Hill, Asian soybean rust and the
future of biofuels. Attendees also had the opportunity to tour the
checkoff-funded Wye Research and Education Center in Queenstown,
Md.
Lisa Kelley,
NCGA director of public policy, and Sam Willett, NCGA senior director
of public policy, attended the event, giving growers an update on
NCGA’s key legislative activities.
“It couldn’t
have been a more exciting day to be with growers,” said Kelley.
“We were able to deliver the great news of key legislative
victories important to corn growers and to see, first hand, the
excitement on the faces of growers who will see the direct benefits
of the legislation.”
Other discussions
during the Commodity Classic’s business meetings centered
on the desire to build an ethanol plant that would supply portions
of the mid-Atlantic region.
The event was
a joint effort between the Maryland Grain Producers Association
(MGPA) and the Maryland Soybean Board (MSB).