Grain buyers from around the world in attendance at the 2012 Export Exchange had the opportunity to embrace the US producers perspective on the 2012 crop through a producer panel during the opening general session. Key panelists were Ron Gray, Illinois farmer and Secretary/Treasurer of the US Grains Council, and John Mages, Minnesota farmer and Chairman of the Minnesota Corn …
USDA Report Release Times to Change
USDA is changing the release time of certain key statistical reports beginning in January 2013. According to a USDA news release the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will begin issuing several major USDA statistical reports at 12:00 p.m. EDT beginning in January 2013. The current USDA release time of 8:30 a.m. EDT will remain …
Syngenta Corn Trait Offers Ethanol Efficiency
A new corn trait from Syngenta can offer increased efficiency for ethanol plants and premiums for farmers who grow it. Enogen corn was specifically developed for ethanol production and just fully approved by USDA in February 2011. According to David Witherspoon with Syngenta, Enogen contains alpha amylase, one of the primary enzymes used in ethanol production. “So when this corn …
New Production Poll from BASF
With the 2012 crop year now underway, we’re introducing the BASF Production Poll. This new poll will be conducted twice each month during the season with timely questions that we think both farmers and non-farmers alike will find interesting. We’d love to hear from you. So let’s get started with our first one. How do you think the 2012 growing …
Early Planting Fuels Corn Production Speculation
Corn planting is running well above normal across the country, fueling speculation that this year’s crop could be huge. The crop progress report this week shows that seven percent of the nation’s corn crop is now planted – more than double normal for this time of year. Progress in some Midwestern states has already hit double digits. Missouri has 23% …
GROWMARK Tracking Biofuels Legislative Issues
Legislative issues related to biofuels on both the Illinois state level and the national level are priorities for the GROWMARK agricultural cooperative system this year, according to government affairs director Chuck Spencer. On the state level, Spencer says Illinois will be looking at updating sales tax incentives this year with the pending introduction of 15% ethanol blends in the consumer …
Poll Shows Agriculture Support for Ethanol
A significant majority believe that ethanol production is a good thing. In answer to this past week’s ZimmPoll question, “Is Ethanol production good for ALL of Agriculture?” 64% said yes and 36% said no. That still shows a large group who aren’t on board the ethanol bandwagon. If you’re in the “no” group let us know why by posting a …
Iowa Corn Caucus Grades Candidates on Energy
The Iowa Corn Caucus released its report card for presidential candidates today, giving grades for different policy areas related to agriculture, including energy and biofuels, and an overall grade for each candidate. The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who received straight As …
Ethanol Group Hosts Farm Bill Listening Session
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) hosted a Farm Bill listening session with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) and area agricultural leaders last week at the ACE office in Sioux Falls. “The farm bill plays a critical role in providing a safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers and has included important biofuel provisions in the past that we want to …
IT Management for Energy Crops
Farmers interested in producing and trading energy crops for feedstock could be helped by a new IT management platform. Ontario-based New Energy Farms, a developer of the energy crop Miscanthus in North America, has teamed up with Muddy Boots Software to provide this new service to the energy crop market. According to the companies, the platform will enable direct trading …