Ag Industry News and Events - Page 21

Drivers filling-up their cars with cleaner-burning E15 during the month of October raised $12,000 for breast cancer awareness as part of the “Pink at the Pump” Campaign.  Nearly 30 E15 retailers in Iowa participated in the program, which donated three cents of every gallon of E15 sold from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

SOUTH KOREA POISED TO EXPAND IMPORT OF U.S. ETHANOL
 

A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team from South Korea including ten oil and ethanol industry representatives visited the offices of Iowa Corn today after touring the POET ethanol plant in Emmetsburg this morning. The team, arranged in conjunction with the U.S. embassy in Seoul, is in the United States to learn more about ethanol production and its use as they work to develop a plan to begin blending ethanol in their county’s fuel nationwide.

A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team representing the Japanese corn processing, feed and corn trade industries as well as a hog and poultry industry journalist will travel to Iowa October 27-29 following the Export Exchange conference in Detroit. This event brings together international buyers with U.S. sellers of corn, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn gluten meal and corn gluten feed and includes accompanying field tours to surrounding states like Iowa.

Just as farmers continue to work hard to harvest this year’s crop, we know you as media are working just as hard to cover Iowa’s corn harvest from many angles. Here are a few resources and ideas we would like to provide to you for your Harvest 2016 coverage.

Representatives from five Mexican grain importers will visit Iowa this week prior to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Export Exchange scheduled October 24-26 in Detroit, Michigan.

The Palo Alto County Corn Growers (PACCG) announced today they will hold the First Annual Palo Alto County Corn Bowl home conference rivalry football game between the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines and the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans on Friday, October 21. The winner of the game will receive the Palo Alto Corn Bowl trophy to be housed in their school’s trophy case for the next year and will be considered Palo Alto County Corn Bowl Champions!

I-LEAD Class 7 Graduates, Reflects
on Last Two Years

Today, twenty-four men and women from across Iowa have been officially named to Class 8 of the Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development (I-LEAD) program, sponsored by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA). I-LEAD is a two-year program to provide Iowa’s talented men and women with the tools they need to succeed as leaders and spokespeople for the agriculture industry.

Every fall, Iowa’s corn farmers bring together some of the country’s top food bloggers to learn more about where their food comes from and the farmers who grow it. These handful of foodies descend on Iowa knowing very little about farming, but share a passion for great food and wanting know more about food production. Starting today through Thursday the Iowa Corn Quest Tour will be traveling to eastern Iowa to visit with local farmers and other food experts.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) has named two recipients for the 2016 Friend of Iowa Corn Award. Recipients include United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and former Speaker of the Iowa House, Representative Kraig Paulsen (R-District 67). The Friend of Iowa Corn Award is an annual award honoring individuals that show exemplary effort on Iowa Corn Growers Association policy issues. ICGA President Kurt Hora presented the awards at the ICGA Annual Grassroots Summit on Saturday, August 27^th in Cedar Rapids. Award winners were selected based on their support of ICGA’s highest priorities, their accessibility and working relationships with ICGA, their effectiveness as a leader on important issues to the ICGA and overall support of ICGA policy.

To help haul in this year’s harvest, Governor Terry Branstad signed a proclamation this evening granting a temporary 60-day weight limit exemption for trucks on Iowa roads, effective starting at 12:01 am, Tuesday, September 20, 2016. The 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.