NCGA Corn Action News for September 13, 2013

Friday, September 13, 2013

Wallace to make historic 900th NASCAR start with American Ethanol

NASCAR legend Kenny Wallace will be making his 900th NASCAR start at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday in the Dollar General 300. Joining the "900 Club", Wallace will be amongst an elite group of drivers that includes Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett.

Wallace will be behind the wheel of the RAB Racing No. 29 ToyotaCare, American Ethanol Toyota Camry, in a special paint scheme to commemorate the NASCAR milestone. Keith Hinkein will serve as crew chief for the No. 29, making his fourth start with Wallace and RAB Racing. Hinkein spent last season as a crew chief in the ARCA Racing Series securing one win with Kevin Swindell and has prior experience in the Hooters Pro Cup Series, winning 10 races with drivers Trevor Bayne and Joey Logano. Wallace currently sits at 898 NASCAR starts, but will also compete in the Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in the No. 81 SS Green Light American Ethanol Toyota Tundra on Friday night, thanks to Illinois farmers and the Illinois Corn Marketing Board.

For the full story, click here.

America's Heartland Returns for Ninth Season with New Features

America's Heartland The popular television series America's Heartland features new themed episodes and the return of popular features and hosts as it premieres the ninth season of its public television series celebrating U.S. agriculture starting this week. The series is produced by KVIE Public Television and receives promotional support from the National Corn Growers Association, among others.

This season, the 22 episodes will focus on agriculture-related topics designed to address consumers' questions and concerns about food safety, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Other themed episodes will celebrate a particular crop, commodity, or farm animal.

For the full story, click here.

Remember! Practice Proper Farm Grain Bin Safety This Harvest

NCGA reminds farmers of the importance of proper grain bin safety procedures this harvest. With farmers across the country preparing to hit the fields in their combines, NCGA is again offering a video highlighting the importance of proper safety procedures and reviewing helpful guidelines.

To view the video, click here.

First released in 2011, this video remains relevant and illustrates the significant threat bin entrapment can pose.

For the full story, click here.

NCGA Launches Fourth Advanced Leadership Program Class

Adv Leadership 2013 While harvest begins, a select group of growers are ramping up their efforts to become the most effective leaders possible through a National Corn Growers Association training program. NCGA's Advanced Leadership Training Program, sponsored by Syngenta, launched its fourth class this week in Greensboro, N.C. The session helps qualified and motivated candidates fine tune their leadership skills and prepare them to lead the industry forward.

"Advanced Leadership training provides an excellent opportunity to hone skills with media and interpersonal communications," said NCGA First Vice President Martin Barbre, a grower from Carmi, Ill. "Last year, I had the chance to participate and can attest the program helps leaders climb to the top of their game and prepare to lead our organization into 2014 and beyond."

For the full story, click here.

USDA Raises Forecast for Corn Yields

U.S. farmers remain on track to produce a record corn crop if forecasts hold, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates released yesterday. The projected harvest raised to 13.8 billion bushels as the second survey-based yield forecast rose to 155.3 bushels per acre. If realized, U.S. corn farmers would exceed the production record set in 2009 of 13.09 billion bushels.

"Despite a variety of less-than-optimal growing conditions across the Corn Belt, farmers worked doggedly to grow the best crop possible," said National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson, a farmer from Floyd, Iowa. "Using cutting-edge technology and consistently improving practices, American farmers today operate at a level unimaginable only a few decades prior. As harvest quickly approaches, we continue to hope that conditions hold strong and eagerly prepare to get the crop out of the field and into the bins."

For the full report, click here.

For a state-by-state analysis of how forecasts changed over the past month, click here.

For the full story, click here.

Fostering Old Relationships to Regain Market Share

In 2012 Korea was the third largest corn importer in the world and the fourth largest market for U.S. corn. Yet because of the drought of 2012, U.S. imports have dropped to less than 1 percent so far in the 2013 calendar year, according to Korean import statistics. This has propelled the U.S. Grains Council to engage in aggressive programming to reinvigorate Korean buyers for U.S. corn.

The Council has been active in Korea since opening an office there in 1972, and Korea remains an important market. Korea produces very little coarse grains and imports more than 98 percent of total consumption. Corn has dominated in Korean grains import market, ranging from 65-85 percent of the total market.

For the full story, click here.

Report Shows Need for Ag Technology in Africa

A report released last week by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, chaired by former United Nations Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kofi Annan, details the great potential for agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and the ability of more widespread use of seed biotechnology to help drive this growth.

The report states that the yield gap for most crops could be reduced by the appropriate use of improved crop varieties; recommended application levels of appropriate fertilizers; and adequate management of nutrients, water, pests, and diseases. Further, Sub-Saharan Africa displays the greatest gaps between potential yields and realized yields for a number of crops, particularly corn and rice.

For the full story, click here.

Weather Brings Corn Crop Condition Down

Warm, dry weather though much of the Corn Belt, with drought conditions in several areas, has reduced the condition of the 2013 U.S. corn crop as harvest approaches, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported earlier this week.

"Many of our growers are noticing the impact of the late-summer weather on their crops," said NCGA President Pam Johnson. "We also see that drought monitors show conditions reaching the severe stage in several key corn-growing areas of the upper Midwest."

Click here for the USDA's weekly report on crop progress.

Click here for the U.S. Drought Monitor website.

For the full story, click here.

Field Notes

The National Corn Growers Association is now in its third season of Field Notes, a series that takes readers behind the farm gate to follow the year in the life of American farm families. While these growers come from diverse geographic areas and run unique operations, they share a common love for U.S. agriculture and the basic values that underpin life in farming communities.

Today, Field Notes took a look back at his 2013 corn crop with Texas farmer Jay Beckhusen. Already two weeks past completion, harvest brought a series of challenges.

"Harvest was kind of tough this year as we got rain when we were trying to get the crop in," said Beckhusen. "Normally, we don't get rain here in July and August. It didn't impact the crop, but it did slow down the progress. Now, everything is complete, and we are looking at a bit better than average yields."

Overall, he found that the crop in 2013 had actually suffered more greatly from the early season frost than he had believed at the time.

"We went through the winter extremely dry, and everyone planted a lot of corn acres because of the prices they saw then," he explained. "It was dry at planting, but the crop got up and started only to get hit by late frosts and freezes. We didn't realize until we were harvesting how much that frost in April hurt the crop. But, we got some timely rains in May and the first part of June, and the crop really responded and took off growing. Then, we had two weeks of 100 degree plus temperatures that scorched the crop. On a whole, I think we are grateful that we have what we have, because it could have been a complete disaster. Instead, we have a crop that is a little above average."

To listen to the full interview with Beckhusen, click here.

Stay tuned as Field Notes follows the growers who have opened their farms, families and communities up this year and meet the true faces of modern American agriculture.

On Corn Commentary, you can always get the latest news on the situations impacting today's farmer. Whether delving into the details of pending legislation or exploring how to "agvocate" more effectively, Corn Commentary offers a fresh perspective. Click here to explore our blog posts on a variety of interesting, insightful topics.

NCGA Weekly Program Spotlight

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, of which the National Corn Growers Association is a founding member, consists of more than 80 farmer - and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners representing virtually all aspects of agriculture working to engage in dialogues with consumers who have questions about how today's food is grown and raised. USFRA is committed to continuous improvement and supporting U.S. farmers and ranchers efforts to increase confidence and trust in today's agriculture. Click the logo for more information.