Last week, the USDA announced its estimated harvest numbers for corn this fall and the report was full of good news. They are expecting another record harvest this year as well as an increase in bushels per acre. Should their predictions come true, this will be the third record harvest in a row. In addition, corn growers will achieve this feat using less acres than the year before.
While this is promising news, the report did not account for the flooding conditions in Iowa. More than 32 counties in the state are now eligible for federal disaster funding and many of the residents who have been most negatively affected are corn growers. One of the worst areas is near Ames, Iowa. (You can see the devastation is the aerial photo.)
To learn more about how the floods might affect Iowa corn farmers, I reached out to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. In an email to me, they noted that the impact of the floods on harvest has not been a major topic of discussion but many farmers are worried that the hot weather may stunt ear growth and cause denting before its time. The result would be lower test weights.
Dean Taylor, a corn and soybean farmer from Prairie City, Iowa and president-elect of the Iowa Corn Growers Association has been affected by the floods. “Three weeks ago, our crops looked great. We were looking at 200 bushels per acre corn and above, but now even non-flooded fields that received 10-15 inches of rain in one week might top out at 120 to 130 bushels per acre. I think we’ve learned from 1993, that rain does not always make grain,” explained Taylor.
Another area of concern is with the demand on growers to grow enough corn to meet the country’s diverse needs, will there be enough corn to go around? “We have more than enough corn for all markets, of which ethanol and livestock are the drivers in Iowa,” commented Iowa Corn.
The organization remains confident in Iowa’s corn growers and noted that the growers who have not been affected will step up to the plate and make up for those farmers whose harvest numbers will be lower than expected. I ran into an Iowa farmer earlier this week who is very proud of what he does, so much so that he wears his pride on his shirt. I loved his shirt so much that I thought it was appropriate to share it with you on this site (and BTW – I want one of these shirts!).
In closing, I asked Iowa Corn if they had a message they wanted to deliver to our readers. They responded, “We are sad to see so many weather issues affecting farmers across the state, but we know that farmers battle weather of some kind or another each year and continue to do what they do best- produce food, fuel, feed, and fiber for the world.”
I talked about the issue with Jerry Bohn, general manager of 
Jerry says he’s most concerned about the impact of the rule when it comes to alternative marketing arrangements. “The packer-processors will have to justify paying a premium or a discount for every group of cattle that they purchase and if they fail to do that, then there is a threat of litigation,” he explains. While the rule is supposed to help smaller producers, Jerry thinks it will have the opposite effect. “In our case, the small to medium producers are the ones who benefit most from alternative marketing arrangements” getting premiums for certain characteristics. “So, I really believe that the unintended consequence is that the small and medium producers are going to get hurt a lot worse if this law goes through,” Jerry adds, which will ultimately impact those consumers willing to pay a premium price for a consistently higher quality product that may no longer be available.
The Impact of Digital Media on Farmers and Ranchers was the title of a NAMA Boot Camp presentation by Jack Semler, 
Communications plan? What communications plan? Sound familiar? You need a plan and helping NAMA Boot Campers with a method to create one was Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Co. Her presentation is titled, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Scary Communications Plan.” To learn how little red riding hood figures in you’ll need to listen to my interview with her.
The 2010 National Agri-Marketing Association 
