National Corn Growers Association officers were out in force at the 2014 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa this week. Right out of the gate on the first day I met up with NCGA chairwoman Pam Johnson of Iowa, First VP Chip Bowling of Maryland, and President Martin Barbre of Illinois. It was a soggy start to the show on …
Iowa Congressman at Farm Progress Show
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) stopped in at the Farm Progress Show media tent to visit with us about the latest topics on his mind in Washington DC. King talked about the inability of Congress to get much done this year. “It’s the nature of the political gridlock that exists when the Democrats run the Senate and the Republicans run the …
Get Paid to Plant Enogen
Calling all farmers? Did you know you can get paid to plant Enogen corn from Syngenta? And did you know that for every acre of Enogen corn planted, Syngenta donates a $1 to the renewable energy industry? Well I didn’t know you could get paid until I sat down with David Witherspoon, head of renewable fuels for Syngenta during Farm …
Governor Branstad at Farm Progress Show
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad paid a visit to the 2014 Farm Progress Show Tuesday and met with some of the show’s international visitors. “I do a lot of international travel to promote what we produce in Iowa,” said Branstad. “We are the leading corn producing state, leading soybean producing state, leading pork producing state, leading egg producing state, we also …
No RFS Means Less Choice at Pump
With oil prices on a roller coaster because of the deteriorating situation in the Mideast, Americans United for Change stress that Americans need the EPA to stand by a secure, safe, reliable energy source the U.S. has complete control over: clean-burning, homegrown renewable fuels. Preserving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and cheaper choices at the pump for American consumers means …
Minnesota Congressman at Ethanol Conference
The American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Minneapolis this week honored Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota with its highest award for supporters of ethanol, the Merle Anderson award. Anderson, known to many as the Father of Ethanol, presented Peterson with the award, as well as an ethanol lapel pin and a big five dollar contribution for his campaign. Peterson says …
American Ethanol Winning Races
Ever since I met Ryan Hunter Reay as the driver for the Indy Team Ethanol Car I’ve been following him as his racing gets better and better. He showed it this weekend when he roared to a dramatic finish and won the Iowa Corn Indy 300, presented by Dekalb. He’s pictured here with board members of Iowa Corn. With the …
EPA Wants to “Ditch the Myths” About WOTUS
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy held a conference call with media this morning in advance of her trip to Missouri this week to talk about the proposed Waters of the United States rule, or WOTUS. “I’m hoping that this trip helps us ‘ditch the myths’ and misinformation,” said McCarthy in an obvious reference to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s …
Ethanol for Energy Independence
As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, many of us will be out on the roads driving to see family, friends and fireworks. But, thanks to upheaval in a little country halfway across the world, gas prices are up again so we are going to be paying more at the pump, a stark reminder that we are not …
NCGA CEO Addresses Fuel Ethanol Workshop
National Corn Growers Association CEO, Rick Tolman took the podium on his farewell tour to address the general session at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Indianapolis this week. It’s the 30th year for the workshop and during his remarks he commented on how things have changed in the last 30 years from the acres of corn planted and bushels harvested …