Ag Industry News and Events - Page 12

STATEMENT FROM ICGA PRESIDENT MARK RECKER

On behalf of Iowa corn farmers, we congratulate Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on his appointment by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC). Throughout his distinguished tenure as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, he has been a tireless advocate for Iowa’s corn farmers, and we are thankful to have someone with such a deep agricultural leadership background in this vital position.

Members of the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN), an association representing major plant phenotyping centers across the continent, have elected Iowa Corn Technology Commercialization Manager David Ertl to the Executive Board. The goal of the NAPPN is to increase the visibility and impact of plant phenotyping and facilitate communication and cooperation within the plant phenotyping and related communities. Plant phenotyping is the process of measuring and analyzing observable plant characteristics. By bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders within the scientific community, the Network help farmers advance future corn traits and those of other crops.

One of the key pieces in improving Iowa’s water quality fell into place yesterday, as Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed her first bill into law, providing nearly $300 million of dedicated funding for water quality efforts in Iowa over the next 12 years. Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) farmer-leaders joined Governor Reynolds as she recognized them and many others for helping to champion water quality funding legislation through the statehouse.

Iowa House lawmakers passed legislation today, increasing state dollars to improve Iowa’s water quality, mirroring a bill passed by the Iowa Senate during the 2017 legislative session. The bill, Senate File 512, now awaits Governor Reynolds's signature. The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) sees this step as key in supporting the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. This strategy calls for a nutrient reduction in Iowa’s waterways through a practical and technology-based approach involving farmers and both urban and rural Iowa communities.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Governor Adam Gregg, Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Executive Director Sean McMahon, along with agriculture and conservation leaders, highlighted the collaborative, watershed based approach being used successfully across the state to address water quality challenges in a press conference today. This included commemorating the first anniversary of the Midwest Agriculture Water Quality Partnership sharing key successes and current projects being implemented in targeted watersheds across the state.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), one of the most effective, longest-standing agricultural associations in the country, released today its final list of state and federal policy priorities for the upcoming year.

Tis’ the season many corn farmers finalize their seed decisions for the coming season. One consideration often outweighs all others in this decision-making process: yield. But, has the last century of hybridization to increase yields changed the corn plant’s ability to adjust to new or stressful situations? This is the question that University of Wisconsin Professor of Agronomy Natalia de Leon along with her student Joe Gage, and colleagues at several institutions hoped to answer. They turned to the Genomes to Fields (G2F) initiative, which houses the largest dataset of corn genotype, environment and phenotype data that has ever been made publicly available to researchers at universities and agencies. This program, funded in part by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the National Corn Growers Association, leverages the mapping of the corn genome to identify key corn genetic traits that impact yield and the plant’s ability to respond to environmental conditions.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published this week a new the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) patent application adding to a previously issued U.S. patent on a proprietary production method using corn in the industrial manufacturing of a raw material called monoethylene glycol (MEG). The patent covers an improvement in the process conditions to increase efficiency from approximately 60 percent to 85 percent yield.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) will again offer the Iowa Corn Future of Agriculture scholarships to aid in the development of future talent for the Iowa agriculture industry. This year, Iowa Corn will award sixteen (16) $1,000 one-year scholarships to deserving, qualified students enrolled at an accredited U.S. 2-year or 4-year junior college, college or university, or graduate school, in a program of study to equip them in contributing to Iowa’s agriculture industry.

STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT MARK RECKER
ON EPA’S 2018 RENEWABLE VOLUME OBLIGATIONS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today the final Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) for the 2018 conventional biofuels requirement at 15 billion gallons under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). We are pleased to see the EPA hitting the statutory target for corn ethanol. This comes as good news for Iowa corn farmers who now face tough economic times and for consumers who want affordable, homegrown fuel choices. We thank U.S. Senators Grassley and Ernst for their steadfast, unwavering support of maintaining a strong RFS through this rule making process.