President Obama made some folks in the ag industry happy with his State of the Union (SOTU) address Tuesday talking about the importance of both biofuels and free trade agreements. Corn farmers and representatives of the renewable fuels industry were especially pleased to hear the president say that America needs to “break our dependence on oil with biofuels.” “The success …
NCGA Applauds EPA’s Latest E15 Decision
This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is approving the use of E15 (15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline) in conventional vehicles and light duty trucks manufactured in 2001 or later. Last October, the EPA had approved the use of E15 for model year 2007 or newer. During a press call, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said, …
Support for “Corn Sugar” Growing
Support from corn grower organizations to use the term “corn sugar” instead of high fructose corn syrup is growing. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recently sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration supporting use of the term ‘corn sugar,’ and other state organizations such as the Texas Corn Growers have also voiced their support. “We are calling …
New NCGA Staffer
NCGA welcomes Alaina Schultz as the new Corn Yield Contest Coordinator. Schultz, having already assisted NCGA through temporary positions supporting both the contest and membership matters, hits the ground running, crucial as the National Corn Yield Contest continues to grow and evolve. Schultz officially joins NCGA’s St. Louis-based Production and Utilization Department, assisting with all areas of the contest, such …
New Look for Corn Commentary
Have you seen the new look for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) blog Corn Commentary? ZimmComm New Media gave the three year old site a face lift that just went live last month. Corn Commentary was developed in 2007 to provide NCGA with an outlet for providing opinions on issues impacting the industry, especially in the areas of environment, …
NCGA and Pioneer Creating More Agvocates
Here at ZimmComm we’re all about creating an army of agvocates. That’s why we support efforts like this one from the National Corn Growers Association with support from Pioneer Hi-Bred. Starting in January 2011, NCGA will launch a series of hour-long social media training webinars sponsored by Pioneer for farmers. Each month, NCGA members, state corn association staff and others …
Obama Signs Bill Giving Death Tax Relief
President Obama held a public signing ceremony for the tax bill passed by Congress this week that delivers early Christmas presents for everyone, giving farmers and ranchers good reason to be thankful this holiday season. Securing meaningful estate tax reform for farm and ranch families has been a top priority for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We commend President Obama …
National Corn Yield Contest Winners
The 2010 National Corn Yield Contest winners have been announced by NCGA. The National Corn Yield Contest is in its 46th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members. With 7,119 entries, the 2010 NCGA National Corn Yield Contest set a new participation record again this year. This is a 2.3 percent increase over 2009 (6,960), a 5.8 percent …
American Ethanol Will Power NASCAR
NASCAR is in the middle of making an announcement of a “major long-term partnership with American Ethanol which is being led by Growth Energy. You can see a video that was just published below. I hope to have some audio from the announcement added after the official public announcement which is taking place in Las Vegas as of this posting. …
Thanksgiving and Farmer Priorities
This week is the time to give thanks to America’s farmers and ranchers for producing the most affordable and abundant food supply in the world. If you’d like to help do that using your social media channels then please visit #foodthanks. In this week’s program I’m featuring a couple of interviews from Trade Talk at the NAFB convention. Here’s your …