Congratulations to Jon Doggett, who has been chosen as the new chief executive officer for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the fifth CEO in the organization’s 61-year history. Doggett has served in the capacity of NCGA interim CEO since August 1st and as NCGA executive vice president since late 2014. Prior to that, he served as vice president of …
USDA Expands Crop Forecast from Last Month
The 2018 corn, soybean, and cotton crops are all forecast to be two percent larger than USDA predicted in August, in the latest crop production report issued Wednesday. Corn production is now forecast at 14.8 billion bushels, up 2 percent from August and up 2 percent from last year. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to …
Ethanol and Farm Groups Getting Impatient for Answers
In the wake of repeated promises and assurances from the Trump Administration, but no actions, ethanol stakeholder groups are running out of patience. In a joint letter to President Trump today, the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, and Renewable Fuels Association urged the administration to …
BASF Spotlights Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0 at #FPS18
A semi truck wrapped with a Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0 message greeted visitors to the Farm Progress Show last week, letting them know that this revolutionary biological is now part of the BASF portfolio. “Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0 enhances the microbial activity around the corn root and the result is greater nutrient availability and uptake by the growing plant,” said Kerry Grossweiler with BASF …
Bayer Advocates Zero Tolerance Approach to Weeds
When it comes to Palmer amaranth and waterhemp, Bayer experts say anything less than 100 percent control risks corn yields in the future because just one of either of those weeds can produce 500,000 to one million seeds for next season. “Growers should take a holistic approach to managing Palmer amaranth and waterhemp,” said Frank Rittemann, selective corn herbicides product …
Corn Growers Join Farmers For Free Trade at #FPS18
Last week was a big one for trade news impacting agriculture, so Farmers for Free Trade (FFT) Executive Director Brian Kuehl and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Kevin Skunes had a lot to talk about during a press conference at Farm Progress Show. Regarding news that U.S. and Mexico had reached a preliminary NAFTA deal, Kuehl expressed some concerns. …
New NCGA Officer Talks Top Issues at #FPS18
The National Corn Growers Association leadership team was out in full force last week at the Farm Progress Show, including the new kid on the board, Kevin Ross of Iowa. Ross was elected this summer to become the organization’s first vice president for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, and he is jumping right into the issues head …
AMVAC Launches Force® 10G HL Insecticide
At the 2018 Farm Progress Show this week, AMVAC® Chemical Corporation announced the launch of Force 10G HL Insecticide for field corn, seed corn, sweet corn and popcorn. Force 10G HL has a reliable pyrethroid mode of action for proven control of corn rootworms and seed-attacking pests, including Mexican corn rootworms, northern corn rootworms, southern corn rootworms, western corn rootworms, …
Secretary Sonny Shows Ethanol Support
A rally organized by corn and ethanol producers at the Farm Progress Show got the attention of USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey who stopped by to show their support. It was a last minute decision by the secretary, who brought greetings and another promise from President Trump, who called Perdue as …
Export Panel at #ACEconf18 Explores Tariff Wars
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) interim CEO Jon Doggett and CHS Director of Global Trading Max Thomasson explored the impact of current trade negotiations and tariff wars on the global market for corn and ethanol during a panel at last week’s American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) conference in Minneapolis. Doggett drove home the point that if it was President Clinton …