NCGA Launches Farmer to Farmer Initiative (3-7-06)

In an effort to help growers respond to legislation limiting agricultural technology, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has devised a tool for corn grower members to increase legislative action designed to limit their access to agricultural technology.

The initiative, Farmer to Farmer, is a Web-based tool and can be utilized as a resource for growers who wish to counter such legislative initiatives.

Members will have access to well-respected publications that contain unbiased assessments of agricultural biotechnology from the standpoint of environmental impact, safety, economic concerns and coexistence. Farmer to Farmer is organized in a user-friendly manner so that users can quickly find the resource that best matches their needs.

“Last spring we saw a lot of legislative actions aimed at limiting farmers’ ability to use agriculture biotechnology at the state and local level,” said Martin Barbre, NCGA Biotech Working Group chairman. “The groups behind these initiatives were well organized and well funded, and growers in affected areas had to scramble in order to keep having choices in what they could and could not plant.”

Located at www.ncga.com, Farmer to Farmer contains a section that focuses on how farmers coexist with neighbors who employ different cultural practices in their operation. “Growers know how to work with each other so that they can grow crops best-suited for their operation,” Barbre said. “One farmer may have a contract to grow herbicide-free cotton or conventional seed corn, and he needs to be sure to work with his neighbor so that he can fulfill his contract. Farmers do not need the additional burden of legislation; cooperation is a natural part of farm life.”

Growers can access Farmer to Farmer by clicking on the Resources link at the top of www.ncga.com.