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Friday, August 14, 2009
Our View: Pollan Drift*
 
By Rick Tolman,
Chief Executive Officer, NCGA
 
The prolific and talented author and contributor to The New York Times, Michael Pollan, is at the center of a self-initiated movement to redo our nation's food system. The movement is built on a platform of opposing biotechnology and conventional agriculture - especially animal ag - while promoting the slow food movement, local production and organics. He is a frequent critic of corn production and puts it at the epicenter of his axis of food evil.  Click here for the whole story. 
 
* Pollen drift is defined as the unplanned movement of pollen from one variety to another and is normally associated with "contamination."

About Us

Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) represents approximately 35,000 dues-paying corn growers and the interests of more than 300,000 farmers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its 48 affiliated state associations and checkoff organizations work together to help protect and advance corn growers' interests.
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 WASHINGTON REPORT
Storage Facility Loan Approval Begins Monday
 
The National Corn Growers Association is pleased the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency will begin accepting and approving applications for farm storage facility loans on Monday, Aug. 17. USDA has released notices to FSA state and county offices on the new regulations for the Farm Storage Facility Loan Program improvements authorized in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.
 
"These loan changes are a great benefit to corn farmers," NCGA President Bob Dickey said. "Better farm storage allows producers to improve future planning for their businesses and increasing loan length and amounts of loans will make a huge difference. Many farmers are pleased to have these new options available for their farming operations." 
 
Summer Intern Finds DC Program Worthwhile 
 
Media training at Leadership AcademyFor the past two years, the Nebraska Corn Board has generously sponsored a summer intern for the National Corn Growers Association's Washington office. The internship is funded with Nebraska Corn checkoff dollars and managed by NCGA's Washington staff, and this year NCGA has been privileged to have Luke Hollobeck, a University of Nebraska senior.
 
Hollobeck brings not only a passion for production agriculture that transcends from his family roots but an appreciation for global economics from studies in the Czech Republic and the legal process from working with the Nebraska Attorney General's Office. 
 NATIONAL NEWS
NCGA Joins BYOEthanol Campaign
 
Consumers can enjoy more choices at the pump, gas station owners can experience product flexibility, and the nation can achieve its renewable fuels targets - all thanks to the blender pump and the wider distribution of E85 and mid-range ethanol blends. The National Corn Growers Association is part of an unprecedented campaign between leading corn-producing states, the American Coalition for Ethanol, and the Renewable Fuels Association, with the goal of installing 5,000 blender pumps nationwide over the next three years.
 
"I'm proud that my fellow growers from so many states have seen the need to support renewable fuel infrastructure and are partnering on this national campaign to increase the availability of ethanol to consumers," said NCGA First Vice President Darrin Ihnen, a farmer from Hurley, S.D. "Just like ethanol plants give us more choices for where to sell our crops, blender pumps give drivers more choices at the pump. When given the choice, we believe American motorists will choose ethanol."
 
Experts Abound at Land Use Conference 

Participants in the National Corn Growers Association's upcoming St. Louis conference on land use and carbon impacts of corn ethanol will hear from a full slate of experts in the field and enjoy valuable networking time. Remarks from Dr. Bruce Scherr of Informa Economics, Dr. Bruce Babcock of Iowa State University, Dr. Karen Laughlin from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others will highlight two days of intensive panel discussions, breakout sessions and networking breaks.
 
The conference on Tuesday, Aug. 25, will feature a panel discussion on "Emission Factors and Land Use Change Modeling" that includes Babcock, Laughlin and others, followed by a set of three breakout sessions. An evening reception is sponsored by the NCGA Ethanol Committee.
 
Record-High Corn Supply?
 
Farmers are set to produce a record-level abundance of corn for food, feed and fuel use, the National Corn Growers Association said this week, commenting on new reports Monday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that have increased their estimate of corn production and yield with the 2009 crop.  If realized, the two numbers represent the second-largest harvest ever and the total corn supply will be the highest on record.
 
"We're proud of our growers and excited to see these estimates because they reflect a lot of hard work and represent the high production many of us are seeing in our fields," said NCGA President Bob Dickey, a grower in Laurel, Neb. "This is all-around a great accomplishment by our farmers and good news for our markets and, ultimately, American consumers."
 
 PROFILES IN AG INNOVATION
Planting Corn is a Matter of Inches 
 
Every Friday, NCGA features a profile of one of our country's corn farmers that provides a look at how growers are innovating to help feed and fuel the world.
 
Media training at Leadership AcademyOne of the first clues that precision agriculture was benefiting Jon Holzfaster's farm in Paxton, Neb., came from one of his suppliers.
 
"My fuel supplier called wanting to know what he could do to get our business back," Holzfaster says. "The fact was, we hadn't switched suppliers. We were simply saving so much fuel that it was having a visible impact on his revenue."
 
To best manage the type of soil on his farm, Holzfaster uses "strip-till" practices, which involve preparing a narrow seedbed and applying seed and fertilizer precisely using satellite-based technology accurate to less than an inch.
 
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