Check-in on the Checkoff: A Year of Wins

By: Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts is a farmer from Belmond, Iowa, and serves as the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) President and on the Exports and The Grain Trade Committee. 

This year has truly flown by, and as I look back on 2025, I am proud of all that the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) has accomplished together. From advancing market development to supporting research and education, our collective efforts have increased corn demand and driven greater profitability for corn growers. 

Our market development wins include inbound and outbound trade missions to strengthen our global relationships. The country of Vietnam recently announced a move to blend 10% ethanol across its RON95 gasoline, creating demand for an additional 225 to 250 million gallons of ethanol per year. Demand creation like this has helped U.S. ethanol exports increase 23% in 2024 to 2.131 billion gallons, or 8.52 million bushels of corn. Additionally, we continue to see E15 offered at retailers across the U.S., with California recently legalizing its sale, meaning all 50 U.S. states can now sell E15.  

For research, we developed and released grower guides to 24,000 farmers that summarized the methodologies and results from long-term cover crop studies in Iowa. We continue to support companies finding new uses for corn through investments in projects like NCGA’s Consider Corn Challenge and by engaging with past investments, such as Lakril Technologies, which was recently recognized as a Top 10 Startup to Watch by the American Chemical Society.  

In the area of education, we sponsored the Iowa Corn 350, Powered by Ethanol for the second year, gathering over 1,500 Iowa Corn members and their families to celebrate the power and performance of ethanol and garnering over $45 million in earned exposure and engagement for the sponsorship. Farmer members who attended Iowa Corn Day at the Iowa State Fair engaged with fairgoers to highlight the 4,000 everyday products made from corn. The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series continues to celebrate hard-working student athletes and Iowa’s corn farmers with additional engagement with student athletes fueling up with Unleaded 88 and experiencing corn harvest.   

As a corn farmer and checkoff contributor, I understand just how important it is that checkoff dollars be invested in initiatives that increase grower ROI. We all play an important role in the continued success of the checkoff. Let’s continue working together to grow opportunities for Iowa corn. To learn more, visit https://www.iowacorn.org/. 

Thank you, 

Joe Roberts 

Iowa Corn Promotion Board President