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NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, left, and First Vice President Bart Schott, center, take part in two of many news media interviews Thursday morning at the annual meeting of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. See related story below. |
NCGA Officers Meet the Media
Officers from the National Corn Growers Association met with mainstream and agriculture media this week in Kansas City to talk about topics ranging from ethanol to climate change to the 2009 harvest -- the subject that has seen the most interest lately.
On Wednesday, NCGA President Darrin Ihnen and CEO Rick Tolman joined officials from the Renewable Fuels Association for a meeting with the editorial board of the Kansas City Star newspaper for a briefing on the state of the ethanol industry and the 2009 corn crop. It was deemed a very good educational opportunity for the writers to learn about how important ethanol is and how efficient and sustainable a solution it has become.
On Thursday, NCGA First Vice President Bart Schott joined Ihnen and Tolman for the annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, taking part in more than two dozen interviews with farm radio media from around the country.
"This meeting is a great opportunity to get in front of a large media audience, one we rely on to be the voice of agriculture because they really understand the industry," Ihnen said.
Science Magazine Rejects Scientist's Rebuttal
A noted university professor's attempt to set the record straight with Science magazine when it comes to carbon emissions and biofuels was summarily rejected without explanation by the magazine, even though it clearly points to major flaws in the previously published work.
Dr. Bruce Dale, a professor of chemical engineering at Michigan State University, took environmental lawyer Tim Searchinger to task for a paper he and other wrote that significantly exaggerated the carbon impacts of corn and biofuel production. Dale noted that the carbon use in biofuels is part of a cycle that does not increase atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
"The cycle is continued as crops are replanted and regrown," Dale writes. "Using this carbon for fuel therefore does not increase atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The short life cycle of 'biogenic' carbon is the reason why the Kyoto Protocol and other climate policies correctly do not count the carbon dioxide emitted by bioenergy use."
Further, he noted, Searchinger's work emphasizes inaccurate assessments of indirect impacts for biofuels while ignoring it for petroleum-based fuels. Click here for Dale's letter.
NCGA Pushes for Responsible Watershed Legislation
The Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife held a hearing to consider legislation affecting the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico S. 1816 would give expanded authority to EPA to regulate non-point source pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. S. 1311 would establish a new watershed program for the Mississippi River Basin specifically to address nutrient loading and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
"NCGA takes a strong leadership role on this legislation, which could affect farmers nationwide should these models and standards become the norm," said Production and Stewardship Action Team Chair Steve Ebke, of Daykin, Neb. "We find the current legislation especially troubling as it is not flexible enough to deal with realities that farmers must face daily, including unpredictable weather events."
NCGA joined with a number of other agricultural organizations in submitting testimony to the subcommittee. Specifically, the testimony states that the signing organizations are "concerned about the requirements established by this legislation with little or no consideration to economic impact or future growth" and lacks flexibility and voluntary provisions that would make this legislation more acceptable and effective for all stakeholders.
Click here to view the testimony.
USDA Lowers Yield Estimate; Record Still Expected
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture revised previous corn yield estimates down by 1.3 bushels per acre Tuesday, corn yields will still set a record high if they achieve the 162.9 bushel per acre projection, NCGA notes. In light of this revised estimate, the projected total corn production also fell 1 percent from last month to 12.9 billion bushels. This will still present a total corn production up 7 percent from 2008 and would be the second highest total corn production on record, after 2007's record bounty.
"We are proud of our growers' ability to continually produce a strong crop even during difficult conditions. The USDA estimates reflect the situations which our members report in their communities," said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a grower in Hurley, S.D. "In the face of difficulty, U.S. farmers continue to produce record yields and an impressive crop that will meet all demands."
With yields decreased, the marketing-year average farm price projection raised 20 cents on each end of the range to $3.25 to $3.85 per bushel. This increase reflects the continually strong demand for what may be a smaller than expected supply.
Although production is slightly behind 2007's record, that year saw 6.5 million more acres harvested at a lower average yield.
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This Week's NCGA Blog Highlights
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PROFILES IN AG INNOVATION |
Efficiency Through Technology
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 John Scott of Odebolt, Iowa, who uses the latest technology to increase yields while decreasing inputs.
 John Scott knows exactly how well each type of corn seed grows on his 1,500-acre farm. Thanks to high-tech yield-monitoring equipment, which gives the farmer a real-time readout right in the cab of his combine, John can tell how much corn the big machine is scooping up (which, of course, also tells him foot-by-foot how much corn the land is yielding).
Coupled with a global positioning system, he can chart just how productive each part of the farm is - as many as 200 measurements per acre. Click here for the whole story. |
