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Friday, June 18, 2010
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The National Corn Growers Association and its state affiliates are sponsoring a series of social media training workshops around the country, and dozens of farmers are now joining the hundreds already using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Follow along for corn industry news and personal perspectives at our Twitter and Facebook sites listed below. Be a part of the conversation and stay informed and engaged.

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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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NCGA Corn Board Elects Illinois Farmer Garry Niemeyer Next First Vice President
 

NiemeyerThe Board of Directors of the National Corn Growers Association has elected Garry Niemeyer of Illinois as the next officer for the organization. Pending ratification at July's Corn Congress meeting, Niemeyer will become first vice president on Oct. 1 and NCGA president one year later.

"I'm grateful and excited about the opportunity to serve in this leadership position," Niemeyer said. "Our industry has many challenges ahead of it in the coming years and they will also be a time of great opportunity to advance both the image and impact of modern American agriculture. NCGA has terrific grower leaders, a talented staff and tens of thousands of dedicated American corn farmers who are doing their part to feed and fuel the world."

Niemeyer and his wife, Cheryl, farm corn and soybeans in Auburn, Ill. Niemeyer has been a farmer for 35 years and has been a member of NCGA since 1995. On the national level, he currently serves as the Corn Board liaison to NCGA's Joint Trade Policy A-Team. Niemeyer has served as a member of the Ethanol Committee and the Production and Stewardship Action Team and as the organization's liaison to the Food and Agricultural Exporters Alliance.

"Garry will be a great asset to growers and the organization as an NCGA officer," said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a grower from Hurley, S.D. "I have been privileged to serve with a fantastic board of directors and we have worked together very well over the years. All of them are respected and knowledgeable leaders in the industry."

Ihnen becomes NCGA chairman Oct. 1, and North Dakota grower Bart Schott, the current first vice president, becomes president.
 

In his home state, Niemeyer served as president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association in 2002. In 2000, he chaired the Illinois Corn Growers Association Legislative Team. Niemeyer also has been involved in public relations and market development at the state and national levels. Niemeyer received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois. He and his wife have three children: Angela, Stephanie and Timothy.

No Time to Delay on Ethanol Higher Blends
 
The National Corn Growers Association has reacted strongly to news reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is delaying - for the second time - an important decision to allow higher blends of ethanol (up to 15 percent) in motor vehicle fuel.
 

"We're extremely disappointed that the EPA has continued to delay a final decision on a requested waiver allowing higher blends until the fall - especially given that the agency has repeatedly shown confidence in the viability of higher blends," said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen.

The higher blend waiver request was supported by NCGA, key ethanol organizations and thousands of farmers and others from around the country who stressed their support for corn-based ethanol as a clean and sustainable fuel. In December, when EPA was supposed to have released its final decision, they sought a delay until spring to allow for more testing by the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Now is not the time for delay," Ihnen said. "NCGA strongly believes EPA should work quickly and expeditiously to move toward higher blends and we look forward to working with the ethanol industry to make this happen. As America's corn farmers continue to set corn production and supply records, we are confident we will continue to meet the needs of all our customers."

Click here for NCGA's original comments to the EPA supporting ethanol higher blend 

Countering Environmental Stall Tactics
 

The National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association today countered the tired claims of the Environmental Working Group that American ethanol is not a sound investment. Criticizing the tax incentive provided for the use of ethanol is a misleading exercise if proper context is not provided.

A recent International Energy Agency report concluded the world spent $550 billion in subsidies for fossil fuels in 2008 alone. The approximately $4.5 billion spent to increase America's use of domestically- produced ethanol in 2008 is a bargain by comparison.

Equally misleading is a discussion of tax incentives without appropriately attributing increases in economic activity resulting from those incentives. In 2009 alone, U.S. ethanol production helped nearly 400,000 Americans keep their jobs or find a new one, added more than $15 billion to federal, state and local government tax revenues, and displaced more than 360 million barrels of imported oil.

 

Study: Modern Ag Good for the Environment

A new peer-reviewed study from Stanford University, demonstrating how modern agriculture has slowed the pace of global warming, comes as no surprise to the National Corn Growers Association, which has helped track and report progress on environmental sustainability in corn farming.

"We have long known our growers are committed to their work in a sustainable fashion, doing more with less, and this is welcome evidence of it," said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a South Dakota farmer. "So many of our farms are multigenerational, and we honor the value of preserving our farms for future generations. Our work in promoting modern agriculture helps reduce impacts while growing more corn per acre."

The research, led by two scientists from Stanford University, found that high-yield agriculture has prevented large amounts of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, the equivalent of 590 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. A Stanford news release stated that, if not for increased yields, additional greenhouse gas emissions from clearing land for farming would have been equal to as much as a third of the world's total output of greenhouse gases since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in 1850.

 

Click here for more information on the Stanford study, which will be published online soon by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  

NCGA Brings Expertise to Ethanol Workshop
 
NCGA this week provided insight into ways to manage mycotoxin during a panel discussion at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop, held in St. Louis. The panel looked carefully at ways to minimize the negative effects of mycotoxin in distillers grains.
 

"Overall, the session served to educate ethanol producers about the different types of mycotoxins that may be present in grain and co-products like distillers grains and how to ensure that the final products are safe for livestock feeding," said NCGA Research and Business Development Manager Robyn Stevens, who presented on behalf of the organization.

Now in its 26th year, FEW facilitates the ethanol industry's evolution by providing practical information through presentations with a focus on commercial-scale ethanol production, new technology and near-term research and development. NCGA Director of Biofuel Programs and Business Development Jamey Cline also contributed to the workshop by serving on the FEW Abstract Review Committee.

The seminar provided information in five main areas: Production/Operations, Management/Business, Cellulosic Ethanol, Distillers Grains/ Coproducts and Energy/Carbon/Environment. In addition to the intensive learning sessions, the conference provides a venue for key stakeholders throughout the ethanol and supporting industries to form relationships and work together to find creative solutions.

Following the workshop, participants enjoyed a tour of the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center located in Edwardsville, Ill. Often referred to as the crown jewel of ethanol research, the NCERC both hosted the tours and a mini-expo for more than 200 attendees.

CUTC Poster Contest Winners Highlight Economics of Corn Utlization
 

CUTC PostersLast week's successful Corn Utilization and Technology Conference concluded with the announcement of three student poster contest winners. This year's contest attracted more than 20 student entries, and a panel of industry and academic experts evaluated the posters on their relevance to the corn industry, scientific originality, viable and supportable conclusions, and oral and visual presentation.

Bernardo Vidal, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Food and Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, took home an Apple iPad as first prize for a poster titled "Free Amino Nitrogen Generated by Proteolysis in a Dry Fractionated Corn Ethanol Process." The poster described improvements to dry fractionation technology that address deficiencies in germ-derived nutrient and amino acid loss by increasing inorganic nitrogen and other nutritional supplements. Using model fermentations, the outcomes yielded value-added processing results and lower processing costs.

Second prize, $200, was awarded to Ph.D. student Debjani Mitra, who is pursuing her degree in Biorenewable Resources Technology and Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University. Her poster titled "Fungal Fermentation in Thin Stillage for Bio-Oil Production," showed how oil-rich Mucor circinelloides cultivation on thin stillage can provide cost savings and environmental benefits. The commercial significance of this process include avoiding energy costs associated with thin stillage evaporation, production of fuel-grade oil and nutritious fungal biomass, and potential for water and enzyme recycling.

Sang-Hyuck Park, Crop and Soil Sciences Ph.D. student at Michigan State University, received $100 for a third-place winning poster titled "Down-regulation of corn lignin biosynthesis to reduce or eliminate the need for expensive lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment process." The poster focused on increasing the accessibility of plant-produced cellulases to lignocellulosic biomass in order to reduce the high costs of pretreatment processes.

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