New Orleans is the place to be this week for the 2022 Commodity Classic – live and in person. Like the National Ethanol Conference two weeks ago, the Commodity Classic is seeing only a very modest decline in attendance compared to the last live event in 2020.

National Corn Growers Association CEO Jon Doggett says they had 7100 pre-registered for the convention, which was one of the very last events to be live in 2020 before the pandemic shut down the world. “That’s getting pretty close to what we had pre-pandemic,” said Doggett.

And while corn prices are higher, the challenges for farmers are as well. NCGA chairman John Linder of Illinois says they are concerned about fertilizer and crop protection prices in particular. “We all feel it in the pocketbook,” he said. “We’re really looking at the products we’re going to be using.”

While farmers have already been impacted by supply chain issues, the situation in Ukraine has only made matters worse. Linder talked about some of the issues facing corn growers in this interview.
Interview with John Linder, NCGA Chairman (11:52)