Editorials

Jul 28, 2022

Key Issues: EthanolFarm PolicyProduction

Author: Chris Edgington

Growing up, I often fantasized about winning those little league games in dramatic style, with a walk-off grand-slam to seal the deal. With a bit of age, I began to realize those opportunities are few and far between. Most games are won, as they say, in the margins.   That’s how it’s been so far in 2022 for corn farmers. High corn prices have been all but muted by higher input prices, and many of us aren’t getting all the rain we’d like to this time of year. But thanks to good farm management, this crop still has the potential for a good year. That’s a win.   It’s a similar story of incremental gains in Washington, D.C. Last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission delivered a big win to corn farmers when it revoked hefty anti-dumping duties on urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. The National Corn Growers Association, along with our state affiliates have led the charge against these tariffs. The outcome of this decision is proof positive...

Jul 27, 2022

Key Issues: Farm PolicyProduction

Author: Chris Edgington

Agri-Pulse July 26, 2022   The world is facing serious food and energy shortages as an outgrowth of the war in Ukraine and supply-chain shortages. Farmers are working to solve these problems, but we need help from the federal government if we are going to have any chance of success.   That’s why national corn grower leaders recently called on the Biden administration to address regulatory overreach.   That call comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently revised its atrazine registration, a move that could restrict access to a critical crop protection tool that has been well tested and shown to be safe for use. Farmers fear that new requirements will impose arduous new restrictions and mitigation measures on the herbicide, limiting how much of the product they use.   The atrazine decision comes on the heels of a development involving the herbicide glyphosate. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case decided by a lower court from California, leaving...

Jul 7, 2022

Author: Brooke S. Appleton

As news events such as Roe v. Wade and gun legislation have been dominating much of the debate in Washington this summer, we at the National Corn Growers Association have been working to attract the attention of policymakers so that we can elevate the agricultural policies that are important to our membership.   That’s one of the many reasons I am so excited about the upcoming Corn Congress, which will be held in the nation’s capital July 11-14. It provides us an opportunity to take passionate and deeply knowledgeable corn grower leaders to Capitol Hill in mass and get them in front of some of Washington’s key decision-makers.   This year is particularly special, as it is the first time in two years that we have been able to meet in person in the nation’s capital. There is something special that an in-person connection offers that Zoom just can’t. And we have a lot to talk about with our members of Congress.   We will discuss biofuels issues, such as asking lawmakers to...