Ag Industry News and Events - Page 21

STATEMENT FROM ICGA PRESIDENT KURT HORA
 

A federal district judge has dismissed in its entirety the Des Moines Water Works’ lawsuit against the Sac, Calhoun and Buena Vista drainage districts in northwest Iowa. The federal Clean Water Act claim was dismissed for lack of standing considering the drainage districts’ limited status under Iowa law. The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and our farmer-members will continue to use cooperation and collaboration in proactively improving our water quality.

There is a popular myth out there that today’s modern food production system is being run by corporations or industrialized agriculture. But, the truth is that much of our food is grown and raised on farms by families. Iowa has roughly 88,000 farms and 129,000 farm operators. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 Census of Agriculture, more than 97 percent of Iowa farms are owned by families.

A new non-fiction book by children’s author Katie Olthoff is now available and tells the story of raising corn on a modern Iowa farm. My Family’s Corn Farm is available by request free for students and teachers from the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation.  The story follows Presley, a young farm girl in Iowa. She lives with her family on a corn and swine farm. Presley a takes the readers on a tour of the family farm and discusses how corn is grown for livestock feed, human food and industrial uses, and to produce fuel like ethanol. The book is written at a 3^rd grade reading level and has supplemental text that gives additional background information for more advanced readers.

Through the Iowa Corn Promotion Board’s (ICPB) investment in research, Iowa corn farmers continue making strides in sustainably increasing corn plant efficiency while reducing the environmental impact of corn production.The initiative, called Genomes To Fields (G2F), is funded with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, National Corn Growers Association and now includes 21 states plus Ontario. This program 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 stressors to design a better corn plant in the future.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recognized four Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) members as winners of the 2016 National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC) during the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas last week.

Iowa Corn farmer-leaders were in San Antonio, Texas this past week to take part in the 2017 Commodity Classic. A main task for ICGA at Classic is debating the policies that the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) should promote to benefit Iowa’s farmers. During NCGA’s Corn Congress, ICGA delegate farmer-leaders discussed many key priority issues and three Iowa resolutions were passed by the voting body.

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the Iowa Corn Growers Association. To commemorate this milestone, ICGA has embarked on several different pathways to celebrate half a century of pro-farmer legislation and solidifying our place in history as the largest and most dedicated state corn association. One way we are spreading...

Iowa Corn leaders will be traveling to San Antonio next week for the 2017 Commodity Classic. The primary objective for ICGA at Classic is working to develop policies that the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) will promote to benefit corn farmers around the country. Four resolutions previously developed and approved by ICGA grassroots members will be brought forward.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year as the country’s oldest and largest corn growers’ organization. The ICGA, created from a statewide grassroots effort, was formed in 1967 with the distinct purpose of serving as the collective voice for its Iowa corn farmer-members, lobbying on ag issues at the state and federal level.

Farmers, Ethanol, Biodiesel and Retailers Send Unified Message as Pruitt Assumes EPA Post

 

With the U.S. Senate on the cusp of approving Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a broad coalition of Iowa farmers, renewable fuel producers, and retailers urged Pruitt to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by rejecting the petition to change the successful program’s point of obligation.  The request would change the RFS obligated parties from mostly large petroleum refiners to many fuel retailers.​