NCGA Corn Action News: Friday, October 30, 2009

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Commodity Classic

The Grammy Award winning Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will bring their unique style of American folk rock music to the Evening of Entertainment stage in Anaheim, Calif. at the 2010 Commodity Classic convention and trade show March 4-6.

Commodity Classic is the premier convention and trade show of the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Sorghum Producers.

Come join us at the Anaheim Convention Center for this exclusive Commodity Classic event as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sings songs from their recently released CD Speed of Life and their extensive play list of familiar favorites.

"The Commodity Classic presents a great opportunity for our members to grow their operations both educationally and financially," said Commodity Classic Co-Chair Cal Dalton. "This year's event is packed full of really good learning sessions, top-notch entertainment and fun in the California sun."

Commodity Classic will feature a trade show, valuable educational sessions, technology demonstrations, association banquets, entertainment events and important networking opportunities. For more information on Commodity Classic, please visit www.commodityclassic.com.

Legislators Group Supports Ethanol

Increased ethanol production and use have gained further support from governmental officials. The Midwest Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments issued a series of resolutions recently containing policy resolutions adopted that aim to increase the use of both ethanol and blender pumps. Additionally, the group adopted resolutions calling for use of sound scientific methods when calculating carbon emissions.

Specifically, the first resolution calls for "implementation of both federal and state legislation to provide incentives to encourage the implementation of ethanol blender pumps." MLC adopted this resolution after considering the viability of higher ethanol blends and that of blender pump usage as a vehicle through which to deliver them.

The MLC members considered the effects of using higher ethanol blends on vehicles, current U.S. government energy policy and job creation. When looking at the pertinent data, MLC came to the conclusion that "the scientific data from extensive state and federally funded research supports the use of higher blends of ethanol in gasoline."

Members chose to adopt the resolution calling for blender pump adoption.

The second resolution adopted asserts that ethanol and other biofuels be "provided a level playing field by federal and state authorities in the calculation of the effects of indirect land use [and]... supports continued research into life-cycle analysis of all fuels and the inclusion of sound scientific data" in policy formulation.

The MLC noted that "numerous research reports have shown that existing international indirect land-use change calculations are based on outdated assumptions, ignore increasing efficiency in crop production and provide no credit for the feed or fertilizer value of biofuels production byproducts." Thus, the use of this criterion in its current format is scientifically flawed.

Scientists Collaborate to Advance Ag

A National Corn Growers Association sponsorship is currently helping top scientists from around the world exchange ideas this week in St. Louis at the Ninth Annual International Plant Molecular Biology Congress. Through this activity, NCGA helps the brightest minds in plant biology improve agriculture processes and products.

"Sponsoring this sort of meeting is a key part of NCGA's work in being a thought leader when it comes to research," said Illinois grower Larry Hasheider, chairman of NCGA's Research and Business Development Action Team. "Corn growers have a vested interest in supporting efforts to improve corn, corn products and corn markets. We always seek to take advantage of opportunities that enable us to support important efforts to move our industry forward."

The Congress ends Friday, Oct. 30, and features nine plenary and 324 symposia lectures; 600 abstract poster displays; evening workshops; and other events to chronicle the advances in plant molecular biology. Topics further reinforcing the need to find solutions for today's global challenges will include:

� Utilization of "traditional and indigenous" plants to solve modern health problems
� Generating biofuels and the future of biodiversity
� The impact of plant research on improving crop protection against drought and other stresses
� How natural products serve as prototypes for the development of new drugs
� Agricultural productivity

Jeff Dangle, president of the Congress, further highlighted the importance of developing new technology highlighting the recent United Nations' announcement which said that there are 200 million new cases of malnutrition, bringing the total of those malnourished to 1 billion - a record high.