Ag Industry News and Events - Page 12

STATEMENT FROM
IOWA CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT MARK RECKER
IOWA CORN PROMOTION BOARD PRESIDENT DUANE AISTROPE

On behalf of the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, we would like to congratulate Dean Wendy Wintersteen on her promotion to President of Iowa State University. We appreciate the leadership and partnership Dean Wintersteen has brought to Iowa Corn and agriculture partners in our state.

As harvest moves into full swing, international trade teams continue making stops in Iowa to see U.S. corn production and the quality of this year’s crop first-hand. Just this week, a U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team representing the Japanese feed industry traveled to Iowa to see U.S. corn and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) production and supply. The team visited corn farms, river terminals, elevators, and major ethanol and DDGs plants.

Industry and government officials from more than 15 countries in the Western Hemisphere are meeting this week at the Ethanol Summit of the Americas to discuss current and future opportunities for ethanol in the region.

A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team of Chinese buyers of corn and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) visited Iowa this week. The delegation composed of representatives from China’s leading feed mills and importers, whose imports account for nearly all of the nation’s corn imports.

A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team of Korean grain buyers, researchers, scientists, end-users and government officials visited Iowa last week as part of a learning journey to get in-depth information about the U.S. ethanol industry. This team’s visit included stops at the Iowa Corn office, Jolene Riessen’s family cattle and row crop farm, Quad County Corn Processors ethanol plant in Galva, Golden Grain Energy ethanol plant in Mason City, and Denny Friest’s row crop and hog farm in Radcliffe. They also met with representatives from Kum & Go and the American Lung Association to learn more about ethanol.

STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT
MARK RECKER

We would like to thank Senator Ernst for introducing the CREAATE ACT, a bill to increase investment in two federal U.S. Department of Agriculture programs vital to U.S. agricultural exports, the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program. These initiatives support the promotion of corn in all forms in international markets.

To help haul in this year’s harvest, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into effect today a proclamation granting a temporary 60-day weight limit exemption for trucks on Iowa roads. The 2017 Harvest Weight Proclamation specifically increases the weight allowable for shipment of corn, soybeans, hay, straw and stover, by 12.5 percent per axle (up to a maximum of 90,000 pounds) without the need for an oversize/overweight permit.

A trade team from the Taiwan Feed Industry Association visited Iowa this week and met with Iowa Corn leaders as part of a Goodwill Mission to build contacts between Taiwanese agricultural leaders and Iowa farmers and suppliers. As part of this mission, the delegation met with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and U.S. Grains Council (USGC) in taking part in a signing ceremony held today.

Kent Corporation is committing $8 million, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board $4 million and Sukup Manufacturing Co. $2 million in support of a new Iowa State University educational and research facility for feed milling and grain science.