Banner
Friday, November 6, 2009
About Us

Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) represents approximately 36,000 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.
On the Internet:
 
 NCGA Home Page
Visit NCGA's blog
NCGA on Twitter
NCGA on YouTube

Guidance to Growers on Crop Insurance

With much of the Corn Belt experiencing a delayed harvest due to extremely wet conditions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency has offered guidance on its crop insurance procedures to affected farmers. RMA has posted to its Web site (www.rma.usda.gov) a checklist and explanations to assist farmers who may be impacted by crop losses due to this fall's adverse weather.
 
"This year's harvest has been a challenge for many farmers with moisture content so high that it makes harvest impossible," NCGA President Darrin Ihnen said. "Now that the crop insurance deadline is drawing nearer, growers who can't get into their fields would be well advised to contact their crop insurance agents and report a loss and if needed, request additional time to harvest in order to protect their coverage."
 
The end of the insurance period for most spring planted crops is Dec. 10, 2009, but the actual date can be located in your policy's crop provisions. RMA notes that the contractual date cannot be extended through the agency. Instead, farmers should review the conditions listed on RMA's Web site that must be met before the crop insurance company is allowed to authorize additional time for harvesting the crop and settlement of any claims.
 
Also, it is important to note that most crop insurance policies will cover loss of quality, reduced yield and revenue losses if revenue coverage was chosen. However, it will not cover the cost of drying the harvested crop.
 
NCGA Yield Contest Deadline Approaches

The Dec. 1 deadline for completed harvest forms for those growers participating in the 2009 National Corn Yield Contest is fast approaching, and the National Corn Growers Association reminds entrants that the online harvest form, which is now available for use, can help speed up their reporting of corn harvest information.
 
"This form allows growers to easily and accurately submit their information," said Steve Ebke, chairman of the NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team. "The online form is a win-win option as it saves time and effort both for entrants and staff, who are again dealing with a record number of entries, by streamlining the entire process."
 
The National Corn Yield Contest is in its 45th year and remains NCGA's most popular program for members. This year, NCGA has processed 6,954 entries - a 3.5 percent increase over 2008 (6,722 entries) and 41 percent increase over 2007 (4,932 entries).
 
Click here for more information on the National Corn Yield Contest. Entrants can click here to access the online form directly. It is a requirement that all Initial Harvest Report Forms and any corresponding Recheck Harvest Report Forms must be printed and saved when the user is prompted. There is no exception to the required mailing of all harvest report forms to NCGA with proper documentation attached. Forms and other required documentation must be sent by mail to NCGA, and postmarked no later than seven days after the final yield check, or by Dec. 1, whichever is earlier. See complete rules for details.

NCGA Welcomes Paul Bertels Back to Team 

Paul BertelsA National The National Corn Growers Association welcomed back Paul Bertels, former director of biotechnology and economic analysis, after a lengthy military leave. Bertels will be taking on a new role as NCGA's director of agricultural economic analysis and environmental impacts.
 
"Paul is always willing to tackle difficult tasks and succeeds due to his ability to visualize the situation and anticipate possible difficulties,"said NCGA Vice President of Research and Business Development Dr. Richard Glass. "These skills, combined with his dedicated nature and natural motivation, make Paul a valuable asset to our organization."
 
In his new role, he will be responsible for the overall agricultural economic analyses of all relevant sectors of corn production and marketing systems. These sectors include livestock, swine, poultry and dairy. Should conditions necessitate, Bertels will analyze any economic area with a significant impact upon U.S. corn growers.
Bertels will also analyze the environmental impacts of the aforementioned sectors on food and fuel, biofuels, ethanol, cellulosics and indirect land use. Additionally, Bertels will evaluate the environmental impact of legislative decisions made in Washington DC.

NCGA Testifies on Importance of Atrazine
 
The National Corn Growers Association testified today before a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel that was convened in the wake of the EPA's newly announced comprehensive review of health and ecological risks associated with the commonly used herbicide atrazine.
 
In his testimony, NCGA Director of Public Policy Rod Snyder emphasized the thousands of existing studies that have been considered over the past decade by EPA in supporting the registration and safe use of atrazine in the United States. He also expressed concern with the fact that the agency has not identified any new credible data to merit a new comprehensive review of the product.
 
"There is no evidence that EPA has thoroughly evaluated any new underlying studies before proceeding with this particular panel," Snyder said. "In fact, the agency is attempting to review a host of issues in the next twelve months that previously took more than a decade to consider. This creates a false sense of urgency and causes our members to question the motivation behind this process."
  
Click here for a copy of the NCGA testimony.
 
 
 
EPA Proceeds with Carbofuran Ban
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it will uphold its May 2009 decision to revoke food tolerances for the pesticide carbofuran, commonly known as Furadan. This rule will ban the use of carbofuran on food crops after December 31, 2009. Carbofuran is an important pesticide in controlling corn rootworm, an insect that feeds on corn silks, pollen, leaves and roots creating extensive damage to the crop.
 
"We are concerned that important scientific information has been overlooked by the agency in this decision," NCGA President Darrin Ihnen said. "The use of carbofuran has diminished over the past decade since the introduction of biotechnology, but it remains an important product for rescue treatment in refuge acres."
 
NCGA has expressed concern on numerous occasions with the process EPA used to come to this decision. While the food tolerances for carbofuran have been revoked, the underlying registration for carbofuran remains in place. The product could be legally applied to a field but if residue is detected, the food would be considered adulterated which could cause trade concerns.
 
NCGA Commends Offsets Legislation 

This afternoon, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), along with four other cosponsors, introduced agricultural offsets legislation in the Senate that shares many similarities to the Peterson amendment which was adopted during the climate debate in the House of Representatives in June.
 
"NCGA feels that the legislation introduced today is a positive step toward a well-crafted ag offsets program that is workable for farmers," NCGA President Darrin Ihnen said. "While we continue to evaluate the impact of climate change legislation, there are many issues important to our growers that were included in this bill and we thank the Senators for their efforts."
 
Items included in the agricultural offsets legislation are an exemption for agriculture from a greenhouse gas emissions cap, giving USDA primary authority to design and administer an offset program for agriculture and recognizing producers who have been practicing no-till and conservation tillage practices, regardless of when that practice began.
 
One area not included is the package is a provision to address the issue of international indirect land use change. This issue continues to be a top priority for NCGA and we are strongly urging senators to address this issue as the legislation moves forward.
 
 
Conference Addresses Transportation Issues
 
A National Corn Growers Association sponsorship is helping representatives from various sectors of the agricultural industry explore current trends in ports, ocean freight, rail and other transportation options in New Orleans this week at the Soyatech Global Soybean and Grain Transportation Conference. Through this activity, NCGA helps the industry leaders work to resolve current transportation issues and improve options for the future.
 
"We sponsor this sort of event to take a proactive role in leading the industry and helping find solutions and opportunities that will positively affect corn growers," said Nebraska grower Steve Ebke, chairman of NCGA's Production and Stewardship Action Team. "This conference provides an excellent opportunity to meet one-on-one with others interested in a cost effective transportation system. We continually seek opportunities such as this to support important efforts to move our industry forward."
 
Transportation issues affect all industries. The United States spends about one percent of our gross domestic product on transportation. At the conference, thought leaders will address if that is a sufficient amount to provide an efficient transportation system in light growing freight needs expected to increase by 60-70 percent over the next 10 years.
 
NCGA Recognized as Industry Leader

Plant breeding industry leaders recognized the instrumental role of NCGA in obtaining funding for projects crucial to agricultural development at a conference this week in Pittsburgh. The Crop Science Society of America's "Building a Strong Financial Base for Sustaining a Healthy Plant Breeding Community" symposium highlights NCGA's accomplishments in creating and obtaining funding for the National Plant Genome Initiative and uses NCGA's efforts as a case study in how to identify potential funding sources for plant breeding programs.

NCGA chose to focus efforts on these projects as they include a strong corn-related component in the Maize Genome Sequencing Project.
 
 WWW.CORNCOMMENTARY.COM
NCGA Blog Highlights
 
Farmers in Ohio win a game-changing victory...Steak officianados boast about corn-fed beef...Turkish biotech ban lays a big fat egg...Food experts provide Michael Pollan with a commuppance...At the same time, farmers also must be ware of an EPA in hyperdrive...A new cellulosic ethanol plant launches a corn cob harvest.
 PROFILES IN AG INNOVATION
Farmer Finds Opportunities in Challenges
 
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. Today, meet Randy Hughes of Janesville, Wis., who considers his hardest challenges his best opportunities.
 
Randy HughesThere's gold in those blue chips - corn chips, that is. Just ask Whilden Randall Hughes. (You can call him Randy.)
 
Randy farms 5,000 acres outside Janesville, Wisconsin. He is the fifth generation to farm the place, part of which was granted to an ancestor by President James K. Polk in 1848. The framed land grant hangs in the farm office with a receipt for a John Deere plow from 1852.
 
And in at least one way, Randy has gone back to farming the way his ancestors did.