 |
| Secretary
of Agriculture Mike Johanns, left, met briefly with NCGA Corn
Board member Bob Dickey, center, and NCGA Director of Livestock
Max Starbuck, right, at the recent National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. |
NCGA
Discusses Key Issues with Corn Industry’s Top Customer (2-17-05)
National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Board member Bob Dickey traveled
to San Antonio, Texas, recently to interact with the corn sector’s
top customer – the U.S. beef industry.
Dickey, a farmer
from Laurel, Neb., and NCGA Director of Livestock Max Starbuck represented
NCGA at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual convention
and trade show in early February.
Though many
issues were discussed at the event, revitalizing the beef trade
with Canada and Japan was the hottest topic, Dickey said. The beef
trade is important to corn growers, he said, because increased export
opportunities for U.S. beef producers means increased demand for
corn.
“There
was a lot of interest and questions concerning the opening of the
Canadian-U.S. border to cattle coming in to the United States,”
he said, adding that experts at the conference offered a positive
outlook for the beef industry in 2005. “It appears that there
is a lot of optimism, especially if Japan should reopen its markets
to U.S. beef.”
In the keynote
address, new Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns assured beef
producers that the administration is committed to reopening the
Canadian border to the live cattle trade. He also stressed the importance
of using sound science in discussions on re-establishing trade with
Japan and South Korea.
“Opening
the markets that are currently closed will more than offset the
impacts of imports from Canada,” the secretary said. “If
we ignore the science in favor of short-term gains, we jeopardize
the long-term viability of our beef market. Devastating trade is
devastating to agriculture.”
Dickey said
he and Starbuck had the opportunity to briefly speak with Johanns,
who will be the keynote speaker Feb. 25 at Commodity Classic in
Austin, Texas.
Dickey said
he had numerous conversations with beef producers about the importance
of livestock to the corn industry. In 2004, livestock consumed more
than 6 billion bushels of corn, accounting for 56 percent of corn
usage. Beef consumed more corn than any other livestock group, followed
by poultry and pork.
“Whenever
the opportunity presented itself, we thanked the cattlemen for being
the number one customer for corn and its co-products,” Dickey
said.
For more information
on NCGA’s livestock program, click here.