The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference concluded today with a final general session on water usage. Opening the session was Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association. I met with Rick before heading back to the agriblogging highway and we talked about his message of agvocating. That of course is advocating for agriculture.
Rick says we have such a great story to tell that he calls us “agriculture’s strategic national asset.” The agribusiness sector is so productive and has many success stories but unfortunately some of the discussion going on at the national level is very negative. So he says it’s up to us to change the conversation around. That’s why NCGA has worked at not only creating its own social media information channels but has scheduled workshops for growers to learn how to use today’s new communications technologies to make their voice heard in the online conversation. If you know me then you know how much I agree with the approach NCGA is taking! Rick says that it’s very important for farmers to make their voice heard because research shows that consumers are more trusting of information about food when it comes from the farmer than many other sources.
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference has international participants. We have quite a few from China. I had an opportunity to speak with Li Bin, CEO, Xin Jiang Tianda Biotechnology Co., Ltd., pictured here with Linyi Li, Novozymes China, my interpreter. Thank you Linyi!
I asked him what stimulated his interest in participating. He says that corn utilization in China is one of the largest in the world and he wanted this chance to see what kind of products and technology we have. He is impressed with the organization and diversity of information provided here. He was very interested in how ethanol and production by-products like DDGs have developed here in the United States since they have not progressed to that point in China yet.
Amid all the research and new uses information being presented at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference a very important announcement was made.
Colin Crankshaw, GEA Barr-Rosin, was the winner of the iPad drawing. As I understand it he was also the first person to register for CUTC. This drawing was for “early registrants” and I don’t think you can get any earlier than that!
So congratulations Coin and I hope you enjoy that bad boy.
This won’t be the only iPad that CUTC is giving away. The first place winner of the Poster Contest will also win an iPad.
It looks like we have nearly 300 people attending the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. I sat down with NCGA President and South Dakota corn farmer, Darrin Ihnen, this morning and we talked about the need for this kind of conference.
Darrin says CUTC brings out ideas that are still in the development stage while helping the industry come up with new uses of corn. He says that as we grow more corn there is a continuing need to develop new products and markets. He is excited about things like ethanol and ethanol by-products since he’s from a state that doesn’t have a livestock industry to take advantage of these products that are being made from his crop. He says there are a lot of the participants at CUTC who represent companies that already have corn products but may be looking for new and cost effective ways to help their bottom line.
I previewed the keynote address to open the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference earlier today. Now here’s the full comments from Dr. Gale Buchanan, former USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. Dr. Buchanan was introduced by NCGA President, Darrin Ihnen, and I’m also posting his welcome message. During the next couple days I’ll be doing a lot of interviews which will be used on Corn Commentary in coming weeks. I’ll also have more for you here so keep your eyes and ears open.
Dr. Buchanan devoted the theme of his speech to the need for a “new green revolution” and pointed to the work of Dr. Normal Borlaug and many of the things he said about the importance of good scientific agricultural research. He says all branches of science will be needed to create the new green revolution to feed the world in the future. Some of the concerns he has include the availability of fertilizer resources and global climate change.
One of my favorite remarks he made was, “At the time you need the results of research, it’s too late.” He used the problem BP is having with the Gulf oil spill as an example, saying they waited too long to do research on what to do if such a problem occurred.
This is the welcoming committee here at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. Actually, our keynote speaker at this afternoon’s opening general session, Gale Buchanan, former USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, just happened to be registering at the same time I was.
Gale is always happy to help anyone so I got a pre-CUTC interview with him. He will be presenting a research paper that he and two colleagues put together for the Council For Agricultural Science and Technology on the subject of agricultural productivity. He points out that productivity is extremely important and that corn is one of the most important crops we have since it can be used for so many things including both food and fuel. He also points out how important corn is for fuel production since energy is just as important to our civilization as food is. He thinks the corn industry should be proud of the work it has done in recent years and says, “It has shown us that we can have energy sourced from corn and still maintain all of the other commitments we have both in food as well as our carryover stocks as well as our export commitments.”
Former USDA undersecretary and “Next Green Revolution” expert, Dr. Gale Buchanan, who is also dean and director emeritus of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will give the keynote address at the CUTC grand opening on June 7.
Before assuming his current role at the University of Georgia, Dr. Buchanan served as chief scientist and under secretary for Research, Education and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Bush Administration. He is active in agriculture’s scientific community, and recently chaired a panel of notable scientists and government leaders who released an update to Dr. Norman Borlaug’s 1973 CAST Paper No. 1, addressing future challenges in agricultural productivity.
NCGA Director of Biotechnology and Economic Analysis Nathan Fields says this year’s CUTC agenda and theme of “Corn: America’s Renewable Resource,” showcase how corn research and commercial pipelines are already addressing the world’s sustainability challenges. “It’s the only conference of it’s kind really focusing on corn as a core feedstock for a myriad of different products,” Nathan says. CUTC will feature a distinguished list of speakers covering topics such as life cycle analysis of new technologies, land use issues, aquifers, water quality and usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Participants can also attend sessions on health and nutrition, wet and dry milling processes, biocatalysts, gene transformation technology, unique specialty corns, new products and revenue streams.
Nathan is chairman of the biocatalyst, or enzyme, portion of the CUTC program. “This is a critical piece in corn processing today,” he said. “What efficiencies can be gained through new enzymes, new processing microorganisms.”
CUTC will be held June 7-9 at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga. Registration information is available on-line.
Listen to or download an interview with Nathan talking about CUTC in general and his session in particular.
Some of the people attending the CUTC are (l-r) Gary Wheeler and Gary Clark, both with Missouri Corn Growers and Jamey Cline, BBI International. They’re all Missouri boys. In fact, MO Corn Growers is one of the sponsors here at the conference.
I got them all to talk with me a little about the event with their impressions and observations. Some of the things that they mentioned included getting good information, especially on the supply side of things and also with distillers grains as well as new enzyme technology. They all agree that this is a very timely conference for the industry since we’re seeing a lot of change and ideas presented here will help us prepare for the changes of the future.
I wanted to interview Rick Tolman (l), CEO of the NCGA and Richard Glass (r), VP of Research and Business Development for NCGA together but it didn’t happen that way but we still have a Rick and Rick post anyway. In the picture they’re enjoying one of the presentations taking place at the CUTC.
When I spoke to Rick Tolman he said that he’s always rejuvenated by the ideas, enthusiasm and energy expressed here. He says the exciting story is the productivity in corn production. Like me he also doesn’t see a food vs. fuel issue but one of food and fuel because the corn production pie is growing. But even beyond fuel we’re hearing about other types of new products being made from corn. For example, he says the NCGA offices are being carpeted with a product made from corn.
When I spoke to Richard Glass he said that he’s really impressed with this conference. He says there are people here representing 11 countries counting the United States and that we have 35 speakers in 10 sessions. He says this is perfect timing to have the conference because of all the things going on with ethanol and the push to relieve our dependence on petrochemicals.
Some of you may be old enough to remember hearing Sano Shimoda, President, BioScience Securities, (standing in center of picture) speak to a NAMA Issues Forum in Washington, DC a number of years ago. I’d link you to it but we didn’t have websites to post on back then. I remember him talking about the exciting future of biotechnology and I think we’ve seen a lot of what he spoke about happen.
I ran into him at lunch today and talked with him about the CUTC we’re both attending. He says the key here is biofuels and I would agree that there’s a lot of focus on that technology. He says the future of agriculture is using technology to enhance value of the major crops and ethanol and biodiesel are taking center stage.
When I asked him what he advises his clients right now he replied that they face a challenge of committing capital resources to business development while being uncertain about how sustainable and economical ethanol will be and if we’ll continue to see high prices for oil. As he says, he’s just a business guy listening to some seriously technical presentations but he says you have to be impressed with the people here from all over the world working to meet the challenges the industry is facing.
I really hate to do this to you but here’s AgriTalk again. I know, they need their own category, blog, etc. Mike, Mike and John were live from the CUTC today and I’ll see them again this weekend in Nashville for the New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race.
I’ve got some more items to post but this has been a day of doing audio interviews, video recording of session presenters as well as still photography. There hasn’t been any posting time but I do have the photo album updated.
Tomorrow I’ll be traveling on to the annual meeting of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council where I’m presenting in back-to-back sessions in the afternoon. So after the reception here tonight I’ll get caught up online and see you from there.
I don’t know if this is actually called a Corntini but it’s a martini with corn in it.
All I know is that you “drink the best and burn the rest.”
Someone’s going to have to help me out with the ingredients because the server I spoke with didn’t know. These were being served at the opening reception to the CUTC appropriately enough.
I’ve got a bunch of photos to share but they’ll have to wait until I get internet access that allows me to upload them. I’ll add a link here later.
I really enjoyed getting to talk with our USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, this evening. He was our keynote speaker at the CUTC.
He told corn growers and all the attendees that they’re doing a great job. He also said that there are challenges ahead like the recent Grocers Association attack on ethanol. He says that’s making it difficult to get the facts out to the media.
He points out that we’ve been through substantive increases in demand before like back in the early ’70′s with the Russian grain robbery that led to fears about escalating food prices. He said that no good deed goes unpunished and that we’ve had the good side of the cycle and now we’re going to have to suffer through the other side. He says it’s difficult to fight a well financed opponent that’s less inclined to deal with facts as opposed to dealing with emotion.
The CUTC is officially underway now that our keynote session and reception is over. It’s a very quiet media room as yours truly is the only one here. At least the internet access is sort of working. It won’t let me upload to Flickr but I guess that’ll have to wait until later.
First up on the program was NCGA First Vice President, Bob Dickey. He welcomed everyone and introduced the keynote speaker, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr. I spoke to him before things got going. He says there’s a contingent of foreign visitors here and although he doesn’t have attendance figures yet he’s hoping for a good crowd. I asked him how things were going with corn planting after seeing that we’re finally nearing completion and he said that he’s hoping for a normal amount of heat units during the next couple months. I can understand that with all the rain we’ve been having in the midwest.
I also recorded his welcoming remarks and am posting them for you here too.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
Chuck and Mike often wind up at the same events all over the country so it seemed like a good idea to do a little AgriTalking about the changes they've seen in the ag media landscape.
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference concluded today with a final general session on water usage. Opening the session was Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association. I met with Rick before heading back to the agriblogging highway and we talked about his message of agvocating. That of course is advocating for agriculture.
The 
Amid all the research and new uses information being presented at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference a very important announcement was made. 
It looks like we have nearly 300 people attending the 2010 
I previewed the keynote address to open the 
This is the welcoming committee here at the 
Former USDA undersecretary and “Next Green Revolution” expert, Dr. Gale Buchanan, who is also dean and director emeritus of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will give the keynote address at the CUTC grand opening on June 7.
Some of the people attending the CUTC are (l-r) Gary Wheeler and Gary Clark, both with Missouri Corn Growers and Jamey Cline, BBI International. They’re all Missouri boys. In fact, MO Corn Growers is one of the sponsors here at the conference.
I wanted to interview Rick Tolman (l), CEO of the NCGA and Richard Glass (r), VP of Research and Business Development for NCGA together but it didn’t happen that way but we still have a Rick and Rick post anyway. In the picture they’re enjoying one of the presentations taking place at the CUTC.
Some of you may be old enough to remember hearing Sano Shimoda, President, 
I really hate to do this to you but here’s 
I don’t know if this is actually called a Corntini but it’s a martini with corn in it.
I really enjoyed getting to talk with our USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, this evening. He was our keynote speaker at the CUTC. 
The CUTC is officially underway now that our keynote session and reception is over. It’s a very quiet media room as yours truly is the only one here. At least the internet access is sort of working. It won’t let me upload to Flickr but I guess that’ll have to wait until later.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
