Ag Industry News and Events - Page 25

STATEMENT FROM ICGA PRESIDENT MARK RECKER

On behalf of Iowa’s corn farmers, I would like to congratulate Mike Naig on his appointment to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture by Governor Kim Reynolds and will be sworn in this afternoon. He will fill the role vacated by Bill Northey, who was nominated by President Trump and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Northey will be sworn in by USDA Secretary Perdue at the Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner tomorrow evening in Des Moines. 

Farmers Reiterate the Importance of the RFS

Iowa Corn farmer-leaders headed to Anaheim, California this week to take part in 2018 Commodity Classic. The delegation from Iowa consisted of Iowa Corn directors, farmer voting delegates and alternates, Iowa Corn Collegiate Advisory Team members, and grassroots leaders.The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) dominated much of the discussion at Classic this year.

Using Iowa Corn Checkoff dollars to fund research into creating another demand for corn, ICPB holds U.S. patents on a proprietary production method using corn in the industrial manufacturing of a raw material, monoethylene glycol (MEG) used to make bioplastic. For this reason, ICPB’s patented and pioneering process won the first Consider Corn Challenge, a global competition initiated by the National Corn Growers Association to identify new and innovative uses for field corn as a renewable feedstock in the production of sustainable chemicals with significant market demand. Iowa Corn Research and Business Development Committee Chair Pete Brecht accepted the $25,000 cash prize on behalf of the organization at a ceremony held today at Commodity Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

STATEMENT FROM ICGA PRESIDENT MARK RECKER

On behalf of Iowa corn farmers, we congratulate Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on his appointment by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC). Throughout his distinguished tenure as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, he has been a tireless advocate for Iowa’s corn farmers, and we are thankful to have someone with such a deep agricultural leadership background in this vital position.

Members of the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN), an association representing major plant phenotyping centers across the continent, have elected Iowa Corn Technology Commercialization Manager David Ertl to the Executive Board. The goal of the NAPPN is to increase the visibility and impact of plant phenotyping and facilitate communication and cooperation within the plant phenotyping and related communities. Plant phenotyping is the process of measuring and analyzing observable plant characteristics. By bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders within the scientific community, the Network help farmers advance future corn traits and those of other crops.

One of the key pieces in improving Iowa’s water quality fell into place yesterday, as Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed her first bill into law, providing nearly $300 million of dedicated funding for water quality efforts in Iowa over the next 12 years. Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) farmer-leaders joined Governor Reynolds as she recognized them and many others for helping to champion water quality funding legislation through the statehouse.

Iowa House lawmakers passed legislation today, increasing state dollars to improve Iowa’s water quality, mirroring a bill passed by the Iowa Senate during the 2017 legislative session. The bill, Senate File 512, now awaits Governor Reynolds's signature. The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) sees this step as key in supporting the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. This strategy calls for a nutrient reduction in Iowa’s waterways through a practical and technology-based approach involving farmers and both urban and rural Iowa communities.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Governor Adam Gregg, Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Executive Director Sean McMahon, along with agriculture and conservation leaders, highlighted the collaborative, watershed based approach being used successfully across the state to address water quality challenges in a press conference today. This included commemorating the first anniversary of the Midwest Agriculture Water Quality Partnership sharing key successes and current projects being implemented in targeted watersheds across the state.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), one of the most effective, longest-standing agricultural associations in the country, released today its final list of state and federal policy priorities for the upcoming year.

Tis’ the season many corn farmers finalize their seed decisions for the coming season. One consideration often outweighs all others in this decision-making process: yield. But, has the last century of hybridization to increase yields changed the corn plant’s ability to adjust to new or stressful situations? This is the question that University of Wisconsin Professor of Agronomy Natalia de Leon along with her student Joe Gage, and colleagues at several institutions hoped to answer. They turned to the Genomes to Fields (G2F) initiative, which houses the largest dataset of corn genotype, environment and phenotype data that has ever been made publicly available to researchers at universities and agencies. This program, funded in part by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the National Corn Growers Association, 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 conditions.