American Ethanol Front-and-Center at NASCAR Kickoff
Trevor Bayne, the unlikely 2011 Daytona 500 winner, kicks off the 2012 NASCAR season today with the American Ethanol green flag in his hand. Bayne will drive his No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford over a section of the old Daytona Beach course to the track's former north turn. Following a news conference, Bayne will continue on to the speedway, where he'll present the American Ethanol green flag to symbolically open 2012 Speedweeks festivities.
The loudest, wildest and most unpredictable week in sports gets underway today with Bayne carrying a very visible reminder that NASCAR made the switch to a 15 percent ethanol blend in 2011 with the introduction of Sunoco Green E15 in every vehicle hitting the track in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide races, and Camping World Truck series.
"Thanks to the strong support of our state corn checkoff programs, the National Corn Growers Association is a proud partner with NASCAR in conjunction with Growth Energy and American Ethanol," said Martin Barbre, NCGA Corn Board member and chairman of NCGA's NASCAR Advisory Committee. "Now, American Ethanol is on the green flag that starts every NASCAR race - and in the fuel tank of every vehicle that makes it to the winner's victory lane. This sends a strong message to all drivers that ethanol is a great high-performance fuel."
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2011 National Corn Yield Contest Guide Now Online
NCGA this week released its 2011 National Corn Yield Contest Guide online, providing a sneak preview of the winner profiles and sustainability information that will hit many farmers' mailboxes in the mid-February issue of Farm Journal. With a personal message from NCGA President Garry Niemeyer and informative and entertaining information, such as a look at the nation's oldest corn club, this edition of the annual publication provides the detailed contest information, insightful articles and exciting updates upon which farmers have come to rely.
In 2011, the 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 313.107 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 146.7 bushels per acre in 2011. While there is no overall contest winner, yields from first, second and third place farmers overall production categories ranged from 277.5 to 429.0 bushels per acre.
Click here to view the guide, which was co-sponsored by BASF, John Deere and Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont Business.
Commodity Classic Shatters Attendance Records
With several days remaining before the 2012 Commodity Classic kicks off in Nashville, Tenn., the show has broken all registration records. Last year, total attendance set a record of 4,826 show participants. This year, registrations for the 17th annual event have surpassed the 5,000 mark.
"We are thrilled that more and more growers and industry professionals recognize the value of attending Commodity Classic," said Commodity Classic co-chair Martin Barbre. "Agriculture is both an exciting and challenging way of life. Because Commodity Classic addresses farming from a grower's perspective, attendees find they can take information they've gathered from the show and put what's practical for their operations into the field."
More farm families, first-time attendees and agribusiness representatives will be at Commodity Classic than ever before. To celebrate the record breaking attendance, Commodity Classic's 5,000th registrant, Kirk Zinkievich from Medina, N.Y., received a complimentary registration. "I'm amazed how big the show has become," said Zinkievich. "It just shows you the importance of agriculture today."
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NCGA Grower Leader Attends Historic U.S.-China Trade Symposium
At the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, an NCGA representative this week attended a U.S.-China Trade Symposium in Iowa that focused on sustainable agriculture, food safety and food security. The symposium was part of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's week-long trip to the United States; also at the meeting were U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and China Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu.
"Secretary Vilsack pointed out during his remarks that the United States and China are the world's two largest agriculture producing countries," said Chad Blindauer, chair of NCGA's Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action and a corn farmer from Mitchell, S.D., who represented NCGA at the trade conference. "We believe in the importance of strengthening trade relationships. We hope to see our countries will continue to build on our agricultural partnership."
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NCGA, States Recommend Better Path to Emissions Reductions
NCGA, in conjunction with the Illinois Corn Growers Association and the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, filed comments this week with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration outlining several concerns with the proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.
"We are concerned that the proposed CAFE/GHG rule is inconsistent with the RFS2 regulation and the EISA requirement to use 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2022 in several areas," the letter stated. "In other regulatory actions, EPA continues to express support for achieving the requirements of RFS2, yet there is no mention in the CAFE/GHG rule concerning the role of renewable alternative fuels in achieving the required GHG reductions."
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Global Perspective on Corn Shows All Demands Being Met
This week, the U.S. Grains Council, a sister organization to NCGA that develops export markets for U.S. corn, barley, grain sorghum and related products, met in Panama for its annual membership meeting, and a new chart provided by USGC shows how much the global corn supply has grown in previous years to meet all needs worldwide.
"Total corn use outside the United States has not slacked off but has continued to grow in spite of the high prices of recent years, said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer, who was attending the meeting with other NCGA officers. "It's interesting to note that the price increase we've seen for corn around the world has not dampened foreign corn demand, but have actually stimulated corn production outside the United States."
Because foreign corn production has risen faster than foreign corn use, Niemeyer noted, there has been a drop in corn imports from countries such as the United States.
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CommonGround Provides Food Facts from Farmers
Contrary to popular belief, straightforward answers to your farming and food questions do exist. Now, consumers can find answers in one location as a result of CommonGround's new website.
The website, which launched this week, has transitioned from informing audiences about the CommonGround program to providing a resource for consumers on many of the most popular food and farming topics. As site visitors search for information on a variety of food-related questions, the program's volunteers will provide visitors with a combination of firsthand accounts of what happens on their farms and scientific research.
CommonGround is a grassroots movement to foster conversation among women - on farms and in cities - about where our food comes from. NCGA and the United Soybean Board developed CommonGround to give farm women the opportunity to engage with consumers using a wide range of activities. USB and NCGA provide support and a platform for the volunteers to tell their stories.
NTIA: LightSquared's Plans will Impact GPS
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced to the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday that LightSquared's plans to build a nationwide 4G broadband network will impact global positioning systems. NTIA said the latest round of testing showed there is "no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time."
NCGA has been monitoring this issue closely for its members, who rely on using GPS on their farms. "The announcement is a welcome one for our organization," NCGA President Garry Niemeyer said. "Expanded Internet access is important to our members but not when it compromises the use of high-precision GPS equipment. We hope the NTIA's statement will help put this issue to rest once and for all."
