Ag Industry News and Events - Page 13

We would like to congratulate fellow farmer Annette Sweeney on her appointment by President Trump as Iowa Rural Development Director. Annette has served for many years on the Iowa Corn Animal Agriculture and the Environment Committee and has been an active member with our organization advocating on water quality and animal agriculture issues. As a former Iowa State Representative from 2009 to 2012 and Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, she brings a broad cross section of leadership experience to her new role.

STATEMENT FROM
IOWA CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT MARK RECKER

On behalf of Iowa’s corn farmers, I would like to congratulate Amanda DeJong on her appointment by President Trump to serve as the Iowa State Executive Director of the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency. DeJong joined the Iowa Corn staff in 2011 as the Senior Policy Advisor and has been a key team member working on behalf of Iowa Corn Growers Association members on the Farm Bill, crop insurance, the Renewable Fuels Standard and trade.

 Looking out his combine cab window, Iowa farmer Dean Meyer contemplates several things, but one stands out, how to add value to every bushel of corn. Meyer knows one proven strategy to do so has been his diversified operation, including the livestock animals raised on his farm. When, Meyer, who raises cattle, feeds his cattle corn, sells them, and they become processed as beef products, he creates a value-added product -Iowa corn-fed beef. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines value added-products as the production of a product in a manner that enhances its value. When exported overseas, red meat exports help add additional profitability for Iowa’s corn farmers like Meyer. Exports of value-added products such as ethanol and meat products make up the largest share of U.S. agricultural exports at 63 percent.

The Iowa Wild, in conjunction with Iowa Corn®, announced on Thursday, the two have partnered to create Hockey Days Iowa – an outdoor three-on-three hockey tournament to be held from Jan. 13 – 14 in a central Iowa cornfield.

Two decades ago today, the corn plant got a huge boost with the announcement of the National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI). The historic research effort to map the corn genome - supported and shepherded by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) in conjunction with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) – has resulted in significant economic and environmental dividends for farmers and society at large.

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.