NCGA Corn Action News: Friday, September 25, 2009

In formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding the proposed rule to implement the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard, the National Corn Growers Association and 11 of its state affiliates express concern about biases against corn farmers, the lack of transparency in some of the modeling, and the excessive burden of regulations on growers.

"Most of the controversy over EPA's international indirect land use change analysis can be resolved by simply calculating the domestic capability to meet fuel, food and feed demand properly," said NCGA President Bob Dickey. "If EPA did so, the calculation would show that virtually no additional land conversion is needed -- and therefore no significant new emissions will result."

In the NCGA comments, Dickey notes that the EPA's estimate of 180 corn bushels per acre in 2022 dramatically understates the estimated corn yield, and this has a significant impact on EPA's estimate of greenhouse gas emissions from indirect land use change. The understatement of yield essentially equates to EPA ignoring some 3 billion bushels of annual U.S. production, assuming that those bushels will be grown elsewhere and create 'new' greenhouse emissions.

Joining NCGA in its formal comments are the Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Indiana Corn Growers Association, the Kansas Corn Growers Association, the Maryland Grain Producers Association, the Michigan Corn Growers Association, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the Missouri Corn Growers Association, the Nebraska Corn Board, the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, and the Ohio Corn Growers Association.

Background Reports

As NCGA prepared its comments to the EPA this week, it also released a series of related background studies tied to the high cost of regulation compliance and problems with some of its particular provisions, such as international indirect land use change and nitrous oxide emissions.

Analysis of the Proposed Rulemaking for the Expansion of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, by Informa Economics for the National Corn Growers Association, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board and the Renewable Fuel Association

Compliance Costs Associated with the Proposed Rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard, Informa Economics for the National Corn Growers Association

Calculation of Direct and Indirect N2O emissions and other Procedures in the EPA Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis: A Critical Evaluation, Dr. Bruce Dale for the National Corn Growers Association

New Mississippi River Basin Initiative Endorsed

NCGA strongly endorses a new initiative announced this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help provide for healthier watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin. Corn farmers have long been committed to conservation practices to decrease soil erosion and nutrient runoff from their fields.

"This is terrific news for growers," said David Ward, chairman of NCGA's Production and Stewardship Action Team. "Farmers have long been carrying out many of the recommendations listed by the USDA as best practices, and their support will help us promote these efforts and expand their adoption throughout the basin. We've always believed that an approach that values and promotes voluntary efforts works much better than regulatory mandates, which usually come at a much higher cost."

The USDA's Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative provides a $320 million investment over four years to support programs in 12 states -- Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin - to help farmers voluntarily implement conservation practices which avoid, control and trap nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat, and maintain agricultural productivity.

Virginia Farmers Committed to Stewardship

Efforts to protect the environment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed should take into account the needs of the many diverse farmers in the area and the work they are now doing to reduce soil erosion and other impacts, a Virginia grower-leader told a Capitol Hill committee this week.

In her Tuesday evening testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Molly Pugh, executive director of the Virginia Grain Producers Association, stressed the actions growers have taken and are taking to be responsible stewards of their natural resources.

"VGPA has committed to working with all our partners including environment and government partners to achieve our region's environmental goals and long-term farm profitability," Pugh said. "Our growers are committed to environmental stewardship and making their operations as efficient as possible. Reducing soil erosion, improving field efficiency of nutrient use and improving water quality are all goals that make our growers more profitable and improve the quality of the land on which they depend."

Click here for Pugh's testimony.

Click here for a video of the hearing.

Ag Negotiator Announced

NCGA welcomed President Barack Obama's announcement this week of his intent to nominate Islam Siddiqui as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. In his new role, Siddiqui would represent U.S. agricultural interests in the Doha Development Round WTO negotiations and other trade disputes.

"NCGA is pleased with the White House's announcement of the president's intent to fill the position of chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative," NCGA President Bob Dickey said. "We have worked with Dr. Siddiqui in other capacities and look forward to working with him in his new role."

Siddiqui currently serves as vice president for science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, where he is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals. Prior to that, he served in various capacities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Clinton Administration, as undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs and senior trade advisor to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.

U.S. Corn Popular in Southeast Asia

Approximately 1.4 million metric tons of U.S. agricultural products, valued at $392 million, were sold and/or negotiated earlier this month at the Sixth Annual Southeast Asia U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference, held in the Philippines. Sales of U.S. corn and distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of U.S. ethanol production, totaled 263,000 tons, valued at approximately $34 million - a 27 percent increase from the 2008 conference.

"While global corn production has increased this year, the United States remains the only supplier to guarantee a consistently stable supply of corn throughout the year," said Adel Yusupov, U.S. Grains Council regional director in Southeast Asia, who helped organize the event. "This combined with the expected good quality of the 2009 U.S. corn crop will help further advance U.S. corn and DDGS sales into the region's growing feed and livestock sectors."

Click here for more NCGA news.