|
American Ethanol Colors to Fly Over Phoenix
 This weekend 1,000 green American Ethanol flags will fly over the campgrounds as NASCAR comes to Phoenix, Arizona as part of a large promotion targeting some of the sport's biggest fans. These flags, like those that have been used to start every NASCAR race in the 2011 season, will draw even greater attention to ethanol and NASCAR's move to an E15 blend this season.
"NASCAR's conversion to Sunoco Green E15 ethanol is providing major, positive public exposure for this renewable fuel," said Martin Barbre, an Illinois corn grower and chairman of the NCGA NASCAR Advisory Committee. "Our primary target in the first year of the program is raising positive awareness of ethanol among NASCAR's fan base of 80 million people. American Ethanol is doing this very effectively both at the track and during the nationally televised races."
This weekend, each camper will receive a postcard detailing the promotion when picking up their information packet from the Phoenix International Raceway. This card informs these diehard fans that a street team will be around on Friday distributing American Ethanol flags. For the remainder of the weekend, American Ethanol Team members will canvas the campground distributing a variety of prizes to those prominently displaying their Ethanol flag.
For the whole story, click here.
NCGA Officers Meet the Media in Kansas City
 This week, National Corn Growers Association Corn Board officers met with members of the mainstream and agriculture media in Kansas City where they talked about topics ranging from sustainability to the upcoming farm bill legislation to the 2011 harvest, a subject of particular interest following U.S. Department of Agriculture reports released Wednesday.
On Wednesday, NCGA hosted the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention's Welcome Reception. During this well attended event, NCGA shared the spotlight with the Missouri Corn Growers Association to help draw attention to the devastating flooding of farm land in the summer of 2011. Attendees watched a teaser for MCGA's short documentary, Underwater and Overlooked: Crisis on the Missouri River, which holds the Corps accountable for the 2011 flood along the Missouri River banks and pushes them to take steps to ensure this never happens again.
On Thursday, NCGA President Garry Niemeyer and First Vice President Pam Johnson, along with CEO Rick Tolman, participated in NAFB Trade Talk, a six and a half-hour long session which allows participating organizations access to broadcasters to discuss their most important issues and topics. With more than 100 media professionals in attendance, Trade Talk offered NCGA leadership the opportunity to tape interviews with dozens of outlets. These pieces will air throughout the year, ensuring that the voice of the American corn farmer is prominently featured in coverage of many issues significant to their industry.
For the whole story, click here.
The Grand Ole Opry Sets the Stage for Commodity Classic Attendees
 An exclusive performance at the Grand Ole Opry awaits those attending the Evening of Entertainment at the 2012 Commodity Classic, March 3 in Nashville, Tennessee. Commodity Classic is the nation's largest farmer-led, farmer-focused conference and trade show, presented annually by the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers.
"The Grand Ole Opry has launched country music careers and hosted entertainment icons," said Commodity Classic co-chair Jeff Sollars. "This year Commodity Classic attendees are lucky to have the chance to visit the place that led the way for Nashville to become Music City."
"The Opry's rich legacy of showcasing legendary and rising talent is testament to the level of top entertainment attendees can look forward to experiencing," said Commodity Classic co-chair Martin Barbre. "Unforgettable moments have happened on this most famous of country music stages, and you won't want to risk missing this one."
For the whole story, click here.
Despite Reductions, Corn Crop Still Forecast to be Fourth Largest on Record
Despite slightly lower corn harvest estimates for 2011, growers are still pulling in the fourth-largest U.S. corn crop ever to meet all needs for food, feed and fuel, NCGA said Wednesday upon release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly report on supply and demand.
"Even in light of slightly lowered estimates, U.S. corn farmers remain on track to produce an abundant crop that will be more than enough to meet all demand," said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. "Recently, we have become accustomed to setting new yield and production records every year, but 2011 reminds us that the weather still plays a major role in growing a successful crop."
Estimated U.S. corn production fell by one percent, roughly 123 million bushels, from October projections as national average yield forecasts were revised down by 1.4 bushels per acre according to U.S. Department of Agriculture reports released today. With yield estimated at 146.7 bushels per acre, total U.S. corn production is still forecast at 12.3 billion bushels for the current crop year.
For the whole story, click here.
NCGA Welcomes Brazilian Dignitaries, World Food Prize Winner for Biotech Talks
 This week, NCGA hosted a group of Brazilian dignitaries, including World Food Prize winner Alysson Paolinelli, who was key in transforming the country's infertile high plains region, Cerrado, into highly productive crop land. Now the CEO of the Brazilian Corn Growers Association, Paolinelli, along with colleagues from his organization, the food processing industry, agribusiness and an environmental consulting group, met with NCGA marketing and biotechnology staff to better understand the organization and the role of biotechnology in the U.S. corn market.
Vice President of Marketing Fred Stemme welcomed the team and spoke with them on the association's structure, the key issues on which it focuses and updated them on major projects currently underway.
Stemme was followed by Director of Biotechnology and Economic Analysis Nathan Fields who provided an overview of the state of the 2011 U.S. corn crop. Giving information on both current supply and demand projections, Fields also addressed the ways in which biotechnology, when combined with conservation practices, helps U.S. farmers increase the sustainability of their operations on a consistent basis. Finally, he concluded with an explanation of the interaction between biotechnology and pressing trade issues.
For the whole story, click here.
U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance Builds on Initial Successes
 The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance is holding committee meetings, a board meeting and its annual meeting for all affiliates this week in Kansas City. NCGA is represented by Chairman and USFRA Board of Directors Executive Committee Vice Chairman Bart Schott, NCGA and USFRA Advisory Committee CEO Rick Tolman and NCGA Communications Director Ken Colombini, a member of the USFRA Communications Advisory Committee.
"We are extremely excited by the progress made over the past year," said Schott. "From the growth of this unprecedented movement to the attention generated during our launch, the Alliance brings farmers and ranchers to the table for the conversation on food in a meaningful way. Now, we have a chance to regroup and find the most effective ways to become more engaged and in-tune with consumers concerned about farming today."
During these meetings, Jane Ade Stevens, executive director of the Indiana Corn Growers Association, joined the USFRA board of directors. She was appointed as part of her role as executive of the Indiana Soybean Alliance, a new board-level affiliate of USFRA.
For the whole story, click here.
NCGA DC Office Welcomes New Staffer
 NCGA welcomed Molly O'Connor, the organization's new Legislative Assistant for the Washington, DC office, this week. O'Connor will be responsible for maintaining the front desk operations for the DC office in addition to assisting with the overall flow of the DC office.
"We welcome Molly to our staff enthusiastically, knowing that she will be an asset to our team," Vice President of Public Policy Jon Doggett said. "Molly comes from a strong agricultural background and will be able to apply her personal, professional and academic understanding of our issues to her new role from day one."
O'Connor will also be the staff assistant working with the Public Policy Action Team and Joint Trade Policy A-Team and will be responsible for maintaining the information flow of items within the DC. She will be reporting to Natalie Cook, NCGA's Washington Office Manager and will also be working closely with Doggett.
| 
