2012 Corn Edition

By LARRY KERSHNERFarm News staff writerWASHINGTON — All

U.S. farmers are due to re-ceive a new farm bill thisyear, but Iowans involvedin the process are not posi-tive it’ll get done this year.

If it gets finished thisyear, said Beth Levine,press secretary for Sen.Charles Grassley (R-Iowa),“the senator says it needs tobe done by June, so it won’tbe caught in election yearpolitics.”

But that doesn’t mean anew farm bill will be ham-mered together and ap-proved before summer, oreven this year.

“The farm bill takes along time,” Levine said.“There are a lot of compet-ing interests.”

Nevertheless, Levinesaid Sen. Debbie Stabenow(R-Mich.), chairwoman ofthe Senate agriculture com-mittee, indicated that thecommittee would beginfarm bill discussions afterthe Senate returns from itsrecess. It reconvened onMonday.

Levine, as well as KevinRoss, president of the IowaCorn Growers Association,and Bruce Rohwer, chair-man of ICGA’s farm billtask force, all agree that thedirect payments will betrimmed from the new farmbill.

Ross said he’s hoping themoney for direct paymentswill be plowed back intosome sort of safety net fea-ture in the farm bill.

When asked about that,Levine said she was uncer-tain how direct paymentfunds will be allocated, “butthere’s a lot of support for

crop insurance or an ACRE-like payments, but a lot ofcuts have to be made.”

Cuts that total $23 bil-lion to be exact.

ACRE stands for the Av-erage Crop Revenue Elec-tion program, which wasadded into the 2008 farmbill as a revenue support tofarmers as an alternative toprice supports.

Crop insuranceThe U.S. Department of

Agriculture’s Risk Manage-ment Agency announced inlate November that it willupdate the methodology toset crop insurance premi-ums, leading to lower pre-mium rates for many cornand soybean producers dur-ing 2012.

Corn premiums coulddrop by as much as 7 per-cent for corn and 9 percentfor soybeans, the USDAsaid.

For Midwest corn grow-ers, especially those inIowa, Indiana and Minneso-ta, the rates could lower byas much as 12 percent, saidBruce Rohwer, of Paullina,vice president of Iowa CornGrowers Association.

Rohwer said corn andsoybean growers have beenpaying higher premium

rates compared to othercommodities grown aroundthe U.S.

“Iowa corn farmers wanta solid crop insurance pro-gram,” Rohwer said. “It’svital.”

He pointed to the Mis-souri River flooding, andnorth central Iowa’s late-summer wind storms thatcaused intense lodging, asexamples of the protectionneeded, even during timesof good commodity prices.

“So it’s very importantthat it’s a viable program.”

Rohwer was involved inproposing the structure ofthe new farm bill throughboth the Iowa and national

corn growers organizations.Eliminating direct pay-

ments will reduce farm billspending by an estimated$19.8 billion over 10 years,making up the lion’s shareof the $23 billion limit thatboth congressional ag pan-els said should be trimmedfrom the program.

But revenue protection isstill high on Rohwer’s pri-ority list, saying the pro-posed re-rating of crop in-surance premiums will bemore fair to corn and soy-bean growers.

“Midwestern corn hasbeen subsidizing othercrops in other areas,” Ro-hwer said.

The new rating system,Rohwer said, will be arolling 20-year average, sothat the value of crops willbe properly determined, re-flecting the yield advancesmade through genetics.“The seeds we’re plantingtoday are different thanwhat they were 30 and 40years ago,” he said in anearlier interview.

He added “this is an im-portant feature to ensurethat we can keep in busi-ness, without gouging us.

"It keeps (crop insur-ance) affordable and reflect-ing what it needs to be.”

He said although agricul-ture is presently doing well,

“it’s a pendulum thing.”He pointed to a program

being championed by foursenators — Richard Durbin(D-Ill.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and John Thune (R-S.D.) that would consoli-date several farm bill sub-sidy programs into a plan toaid farmers when commodi-ty markets wither.

Rohwer likes the plan,saying it met “most of whatthe public policy committeeput forward.

“It’s a good startingpoint.”

Minden producer Kevin

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Will growers get a 2012 farm bill?Grassley: Need it byJune before electioncampaigns heat up

-Farm News file photo

Midwest corn belt grain growers are looking forward to the new farm bill which promises to provide arevisal of crop insurance policy, that will provide a solid safety net for ag incomes, even with the anticipatedloss of direct payments.

“Iowa cornfarmers want a

solid cropinsurance

program. It’svital.”

—Bruce Rohwer

Paullina farmer,vice-president ICA

See FARM BILL, Page 2

JOHNSTON (ICGA) — Cornis on the defense. Some even say“Kiss Corn Goodbye,” or “Timeto eliminate ethanol once and forall,” or “Time to pull corn prod-ucts from the selves,” and “Timeto halt corn production all togeth-er.”

In 2008, when corn pricesjumped, fuel prices mirrored thejump and we soon saw a jump ingrocery store prices. When cornprices fell again in 2009, grocerystore prices did not fall, but a na-tional debate ensued.

“The 2008 food versus fuel de-bate and the continued misinfor-mation about corn, showed Iowa’sfarmers how important it is to talkabout corn and what we are doingon our farms to support Iowa’s

economy and feed our neighbors,”said Deb Keller, a grower fromClarion, and chair of the IowaCorn Promotion Board.

“The two-way dialogue thathas been created between Iowa’sfarmers and consumers, becauseof Iowa Corn’s consumer out-reach programs, is beneficial forboth farmers and consumers.”

Corn coalitionThe Corn Farmers Coalition is

an alliance of the National CornGrowers Association and 14 statecorn associations to educate poli-cy-makers in Washington D.C.about how innovative farmers aregrowing more corn every yearwith fewer resources while pro-tecting the environment.

In the second year of the cam-paign, CFC literally plasteredcorn grower images and messageson the walls throughout the Wash-ington D.C. subway system andmajor media outlets.

The messages were science-based numbers with farmer im-ages sharing the facts.

The messages were amplifiedthrough the website www.corn-farmerscoaltion.com, through aNational Press Club event, adsand more.

The campaign in the secondyear reached an estimated 60 mil-lion.

The Hora family from Wash-ington is one of the farm familiesfeatured in the CFC ads.

Discovery tourNot everyone knows about

agriculture or growing corn. IowaCorn worked with the Center forFood Integrity to bring in eightbloggers for two intense days on a“behind the scenes” tour of Iowaagriculture.

“From the past to the present,we shared with them what we doevery day on our farms and howwe are able to share that with theworld,” said Kevin Rempp, afarmer from Montezuma, whojoined the bloggers while theywere in Iowa. “What we were ableto share with them, answeringtheir questions, was what theyvalued. It seems simple, but whatwe take for granted about foodproduction, they want to know.”

“The two-way dialogue that has been createdbetween Iowa’s farmers and consumers ... is

beneficial for both .”—Deb Keller

Clarion farmer, chairwoman of Iowa Corn Promotion Board

Iowa Corn has been battling back against negative consumer press

There was a timewhen the corn mar-ket looked to the

livestock market for a direc-tion in prices, be it up ordown depending on thenumbers of cattle, hogs, andpoultry.

Going back to the early1970s, when it seemed likeevery farm had livestock,corn was looked at for itsfeed value.

Then Russia needed toimport corn to make up forits shortfalls in growingcorn for its livestock.

Soon, corn went from $1to $2 per bushel catchingmost everyone by surprise.

That episode has come tobe known as The GreatGrain Robbery as Russia’sneeds were greatand $2 corn wasstill a bargain atthat time.

I rememberthat by the late1980s that ex-ports were good,but not as de-pendable as theyhad been. Cornhad become apolitical item and we hadpresidents that had embar-

goed grainmakingthe UnitedStates anunreliablesource ofgrain.

Thatopened thedoor forBrazil totake upthe slack

the United States had creat-ed. Today, Brazil is a majorcompetitor.

Most everyone readingthis will remember selling$2 corn at the end of the20th century and trying toget an additional 25 to 30cents a bushel as a USDAloan deficiency payment.

LDP’s, counter cyclicalpayments, and posted coun-

ty prices were importantsources of additional in-come for many years.

Then ethanol opened awhole new market for grainand the days of dependingon the government for addi-tional income ended.

I believe ethanol is thegreatest advancement infarming in recent historysince horses were replacedby tractors.

If you believe that is toostrong a statement, then howabout ethanol is the greatestadvancement since JohnDeere dropped the two-cylinder engine in favor ofthe four- and six-cylinderengines introduced in theNew Generation of 50 yearsago?

Sofar inthis sto-ry, thecornmarkethasbeen di-rectedby theforcesof sup-

ply and demand.Around 15 to 20 years

ago, if we grew a 9 billionbushel corn crop, we werefaced with a market plaguedwith low prices by “burden-some supplies.”

Today,we aregrowingcorn crops inthe 12 to 13billionbushel rangeand in thebeginning of2012, weare hearingreports thatcorn supplies are tight.

Ethanol has provided a 5billion bushel floor of sup-port in the corn market.

FSA offices that oncewere hubs of activity asfarmers worked the govern-ment program for additionalincome, have become veryquiet as the market is pro-viding the additional in-come.

However, the journey ofthe corn market is not overyet.

In recent years we haveheard about the influence of“the funds” and how theirmovement, either into themarket or out of it move like

a tidal wave either flowingin, driving prices up, orflowing out, driving pricesdown.

To confuse the situation,

these funds with their verylarge amounts of money donot seem to be interested inthe fundamentals.

At the end of each month,we hear how the funds are“balancing their portfolio”or “evening up their posi-tion” and for a couple daysthey move the market oneway or the other.

Livestock numbers, wetor dry weather, or exportnumbers do not seem to betaken into consideration asthe funds make decisions.

Global factors that in-clude political activity inother countries and the trad-ing ratio of the dollar

against other currenciesseem to be more importantthan livestock inventorytrends.

Corn that was once alivestock feedis now an en-ergy sourceand a placefor investorsto park theirmoney.

When mydad turned onthe radio tohear the mar-kets five and

six decades ago, he listenedclose because strengtheninglivestock prices would meana better grain market andvice-versa.

Today, I still turn on theradio to hear the marketopening and listen through-out the day, but I also hearthe direction of the dollar,fund activity, exports andethanol usage.

Then I hear about thelivestock.

Corn, it is not for cows,pigs and poultry anymore.

Rye is a Farm News staffwriter and farmer from Han-lontown. Reach him by e-mail at [email protected].

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2012 CORN EDITION

CLAYTON

RYE

Staff writer

Ross said he’s not overtlyconcerned if a new farm billis not minted in 2012. Anextension to the existingprogram would be suffi-cient.

“Our current farm bill ispretty good,” Ross said.

He’s hoping for the di-rect payment funds to be

used to improve the ACREprogram.

“It’s not too widely ac-cepted as we hoped,” hesaid, “so we want to makeit more attractive.”

Growing for farm bill?Amanda Taylor, senior

policy advisor for the IC-

GA, said there are someconcerns about the restruc-turing of revenue protec-tion plans.

She said there are “bi-partisan, bicameral effortsto create a package of op-tions to protect revenuesfor various commodities indifferent ways.”

What she said she hopesdoes not happen, is forfarmers to change theirplanted acreages awayfrom corn and soybeansjust to get a better dealwith smaller grainsthrough the federal pro-gram.

Another possibility is

that rice is now an attrac-tive target, but doesn’twant to see growers moveenmass away from othersmall grains to this high-target commodity.

“We don’t want to growfor the farm bill,” Taylorsaid.

Earlier farm bill work

was done behind closeddoors, Taylor noted, andshe looks forward to re-newed public discussions,allowing other commodityentities to weigh-in andanalyze how the new farmbill will work in the Mid-west, as well as other re-gions.

Farm bill Continued from Page 1

Around 15 to 20 years ago, if we grewa 9 billion bushel corn crop, we were facedwith a market plagued with low prices by“burdensome supplies.”

I still turn on the radio to hear the marketopening ... but I also hear the direction ofthe dollar, fund activity, exports and ethanolusage.

Changing corn markets

JOHNSTON (ICGA) —Despite challenges through-out the growing season,2011 was a success for corngrowers in Iowa and de-mand for corn is strong inthe United States andaround the world.

The U.S. is currently thelargest corn producer andexporter with about 50.4million metric tons of cornworldwide.

In Iowa, exports are thethird largest market for cornand corn co-products fol-lowing livestock andethanol.

Market developmentEach year, the Iowa Corn

Growers Association andthe Iowa Corn PromotionBoard work with trade mis-sion groups from around theworld to welcome them toIowa and show them qualitycorn production and prod-ucts firsthand.

Groups have come fromChina, Taiwan, Japan, Ko-rea, Mexico and many moreareas around the world tovisit Iowa corn farmers andsee the industry.

Also, corn growers oftenhave the opportunity totravel to these countries formarket development aswell. Top customers contin-ue to be many Asian coun-tries as well as Mexico.

In the future, China’scorn yield growth is unlike-ly to keep pace with de-mand. Corn imports to Chi-na are projected to grow to15 million metric tons in 5years.

In 2009, China beganimporting distiller’s driedgrains. It has continued togrow rapidly. In 2010, Chi-na was the number one im-porter of DDG importing2.5 mmt of DDG with sol-ubles with market potentialfor 6 mmt.

In the 2009-10 market-ing year imports of U.S.corn grew to 1.3 mmt.

Moving forward, Chinais expected to become aconsistent importer of feedgrains and food, but policyand infrastructure issuespose potential threat to im-ports.

Japan has also been a ma-jor buyer of U.S. corn forsome time and relationswith Taiwan and othercountries continues to grow.

This fall, free tradeagreements with Korea,Colombia and Panama werepassed in Congress.

“The free trade agree-ments with Korea, Colom-

bia and Panama representimportant export market op-portunities and with ourcurrent economy, this iscrucial to our competitiveedge,” said Kevin Ross,Iowa Corn Growers Associ-ation president and a farmerfrom Minden.

Korea is currently thethird largest corn marketand has the potential to bean important market forethanol co-products, drieddistillers grains.

Colombia has traditional-ly been one of our top 10export markets, but is cur-

rently importing corn fromU.S. competitors because ofthe current import duty

preference.Panama is one of the

fastest-growing economies

in Latin America with cornexports peaking in 2008and dropping more than 20

percent since that time.Statistics show passage

of the three FTAs could cre-ate 250,000 American jobsand add an additional $13billion annually in exports.

Checkoff dollarsA study shows that U.S.

beef, pork, corn and soy-bean producers are receiv-ing a solid return on theircheckoff investments in theU.S. Meat Export Federa-tion’s export market devel-opment programs.

The research was con-ducted by Dr. Harry Kaiser,the Gellert Family Professorof Applied Economics andManagement at CornellUniversity and director ofthe Cornell CommodityPromotion Research Pro-gram.

The economic modelshowed that combined pro-ducer and USDA marketingexpenditures increased U.S.red meat exports by morethan 30 percent per year.

According to Kaiser, theincrease in exports is due to

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2012 CORN EDITION

JOHNSTON (ICGA) —In the noisy arena of publicpolicy, it takes a strongvoice to be heard.

The Iowa Corn GrowersAssociation serves as avoice for thousands of Iowacorn growers.

ICGA members areheard and respected in Iowaand in Washington D.C. forcreating grassroots, farmerdriven policy.

The ICGA works to pro-tect existing markets forIowa corn and promote theexpansion of new ones.

In addition to increasingthe domestic use of corn,the ICGA also works to af-fect state and federal policyon renewable fuels, in-crease support for Iowa'slivestock industry, improvethe farm bill and promotetrade policies that are fair toIowa corn growers.

“An ICGA membershipis critical to the continuedsuccess of the corn indus-try,” said Kevin Ross, afarmer from Minden, andcurrent president of the IC-GA. “Only with a unifiedvoice can we silence thecritics and promote the true

benefits of corn used forfood, feed, fuel and fiber.

“Together, we can fightmisinformation with facts,pass ethanol-friendly poli-cy, support the livestock in-dustry and ramp up ourconservation support.”

As an ICGA member,producers support an asso-ciation working to createopportunities to keep corngrowers in Iowa successful.

Membership also in-cludes:

∫ All the benefits of aNational Corn Growers As-sociation Membership.

∫ Newsletters, updates,advisories and all othercommunications from IC-GA and NCGA.

∫ Eligibility for dis-counted tickets to the IowaCorn Indy 250 race and

member tailgate.∫ Discounted NASCAR

tickets (limits apply).∫ Invitation to Universi-

ty of Iowa and Iowa StateUniversity membershipevents like the tailgate priorto the Iowavs ISU footballgame.

∫ Access to insuranceprograms endorsed by theICGA, including long-termcare and crop insurance.

∫ Early notification ofvalue–enhanced grain op-portunities and other busi-ness opportunities

∫ UPS Savings Pro-gram: ICGA members cansave up to 28 percent whenshipping with UPS and a10 percent discount onbusiness services at thecompany’s store locations.

∫ Iowa Corn Future of

Agriculture Scholarship:This scholarship awardsfive $500 first-year schol-arships and five $500 Up-perclassman scholarshipsfor individuals who are pur-suing a degree within the agindustry.

∫ NCGA College Schol-arships: Sponsored byBASF Corp., the NCGAscholarship program annu-ally, awards five $1,000one-year scholarships toqualified second-year un-dergraduate students orgraduate students enrolledin an agriculture, agribusi-ness, or ag vocation pro-gram at a two-year or four-year program.

∫ ICGA Internships: In-ternships are currentlyavailable in both communi-cations and marketing forthe summer 2012. Applica-tions will be taken untilMarch 2012.

∫ ICGA Long TermCare Insurance: Coady In-surance offers discounts onlong-term care insurancefor ICGA members, familymembers and employees.

∫ Ford X-Plan: NCGAparticipates in this vehicle

pricing plan. With a uniqueNCGA partner code, mem-bers can access a specialwebsite that gives them areduced price on dozens ofFord, Lincoln and Mercuryvehicles.

∫ Dell products: NCGAhas formed a member pur-chase program with Dellthat will allow members,state associations and NC-GA staff to receive signifi-cant discounts on manyDell products.

∫ Enterprise Rent-A-Car National Corn GrowersAssociation members cannow take advantage of adiscount at all Enterprisecar rental locations. Thediscount is 5 percent offrental fees at Enterpriseneighborhood offices and10 percent off rentals fromtheir airport locations.

∫ Cabela’s: Memberswill receive a 10 percentdiscount on the purchase ofCabela’s gift cards.Ca-bela’s cards can be used forshopping online or at one oftheir massive retail loca-tions for an unbeatable se-lection of fishing equip-ment, hunting apparel, out-

door gear, footwear, lug-gage, camping products,gadgets and more.

Henry Ford, an earlyethanol promoter, oncesaid: Coming together is abeginning, staying togetheris progress, and working to-gether is success.

“Whether we are work-ing on livestock issues,”Ross said, “to help one oftop markets or working onconservation to improveyour farm or working tokeep our ethanol legislationin place, we never losesight of the fact we areworking together.”

Starting with local meet-ings in the summer andmoving to the annual policyconference in August,farmers across the stateshape state and federal pol-icy positions.

“Henry Ford knew aboutprogress, he knew aboutworking together, and hiswords still resonate today;working together is trulysuccess,” said Ross.

“I invite you to join thepolicy process where youfeel comfortable and join inour success.”

Iowa Corn membership: The pro-corn choice

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2012 CORN EDITION

export market develop-ment translated to between$46.3 million (for beef)and $85.7 million (forpork) in average annual ex-tra net revenue to the indus-try, which is far higher thanthe average annual $27.5million cost invested byproducers and the USDA.

In fact, every industry

dollar invested in these pro-grams over the past 10years returned an averageof $15 in net revenue forthe pork industry and $8 tothe beef industry.

The study determinedthat reducing export pro-motion and developmentprogram funding by 75percent between 1995 and

2010 would have reducedU.S. beef exports by 36.1percent and U.S. pork ex-ports by 30.1 percent, a to-tal export loss equal to al-most 537 million poundsper year for the eight topforeign markets analyzed inthe model.

These results suggestthat U.S. export promotion

have a very important im-pact on import demand forU.S. beef and pork.

In comparing the resultsof this study to those of 16studies of similar programsfor other commodities,Kaiser noted that the resultsof the study suggested thatU.S. beef and pork exportpromotion has had a larger

impact on imports of U.S.meat than most other ex-port promotion programs.

The full report is avail-able online at: www.us-mef.org/downloads/US-MEFReportFinal-Kaiser.pdf

Iowa Corn has supportedthe USMEF since 1979and invested thousands of

dollars into building redmeat markets across theglobe.

Jay Lynch a corn farmerfrom Humboldt and anIowa Corn Growers Asso-ciation director, was re-cently elected to the execu-tive leadership of USMEF,representing the grain sec-tor.

Exports Continued from Page 3

By KRISS NELSONFarm News staff writerJOHNSTON — In a

move to expand its effortsto assist Iowa growers,Iowa Corn has added a posi-tion of sustainability pro-gram manager.

Ben Gleason has takenthe reins of the new posi-tion, which began on Dec.12, 2011.

In this post, Gleason said

he will be monitoring andevaluating environmentalprograms, as well as help-ing with environmental reg-ulations at the governmentlevel as well.

Gleason said he will alsobe lending a hand with re-search projects, includingthe ongoing nitrogen use ef-ficiency project.

“I won’t have much to dowith the actual research,”

said Glea-son. “Butwill be ableto help withregulations.”

Gleasonsaid he willbe availableto assist corngrowers asenvironmen-tal issues

arise.Currently, Gleason said,

he is networking with othergroups, looking into waysto create partnerships withthem in order to help fill

gaps in current endeavorsand to be careful to not du-plicate projects.

He said he is also work-ing on meeting with corngrowers and discussing withthem some of their environ-mental concerns.

Gleason said he alreadyhas some long-term goals inplace.

“I will help monitor pro-jects in the future, help edu-cate and inform growersand the board in order tohelp them,” said Gleason.“It will also be nice to havesomeone in-house to help

and not having to rely ongovernment officials, likeNRCS, for example.”

Gleason previouslyworked for the Iowa De-partment of Agriculture andLand Stewardship on water-shed projects, so he bringsan environmental back-ground to the position atIowa Corn.

He has an animal ecolo-gy degree from Iowa StateUniversity and comes froma family farming back-ground in Charles City, cur-rently residing in Ankeny.

The Iowa Corn Promo-

tion Board works to developand defend markets, fundresearch and provide educa-tion about corn and cornproducts.

The Iowa Corn GrowersAssociation is a member-ship organization lobbyingon agricultural issues on be-half of its 6,700 members.

Both organizations workon the joint mission to cre-ate opportunities for long-term Iowa corn growerprofitability.

Contact Kriss Nelson [email protected].

ICGA adds new environmental position

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6 Farm NewS / Fort DoDge, Iowa www.farm-news.com FrIDay, JaN. 27, 2012

2012 CORN EDITION

By DARCYDOUGHERTY MAULSBY

Farm News staff writerDES MOINES — Behold the

humble rural road.In Iowa, many of these vital

pieces of infrastructure were de-signed in an era when the heaviestpiece of equipment moving acrossthem was a steam engine atthreshing time.

Even a majority of Iowa’s moremodern farm-to-market roadswere built in the years before mas-sive tractors, combines, graincarts and semi-trucks regularlycrisscrossed the countryside, haul-ing the bounty of ever higher-yielding crops to country eleva-tors and ethanol plants.

A century after the Iowa Legis-lature began a push to get thestate’s early roads out of the mud,this aging network of rural roadsand bridges is wearing out. Main-tenance in recent years has laggedas revenues from gasoline anddiesel taxes have flattened androad construction costs havesoared

The situation has sparked bi-partisan political pressure to raiseIowa’s gasoline and diesel fueltaxes to support improvements toIowa’s 114,000-mile road sys-tem, which includes more than90,000 miles of gravel and black-top county roads.

“Infrastructure is what givesIowa agriculture a competitive ad-vantage, but a lot of roads need re-pairs,” said state Rep. David Tjep-kes, (R-Gowrie), who chairs theHouse Transportation Committee.

Raising the fuel tax is an in-vestment in Iowa’s future, saidDave Scott, executive director ofthe Iowa Good Roads Associa-tion, who noted the fuel tax has re-mained unchanged since 1989.

“Iowa is a farm state, and wehave to continue to get agricultur-al products to market. That meanswe must continue to fund our rur-al roads and bridges.”

Falling behind costsThere’s a lot of work to be

done, according to a ReasonerFoundation national study, whichshowed that only seven stateshave primary roads in worse con-

dition than Iowa.Roads aren’t the only chal-

lenge. While Iowa is one of thetop five states in America in termsof the number of bridges, Iowahas the fourth highest percentageof structurally deficient bridges inthe nation, according to a 2008study from the Transportation Re-search Information Program inWashington, D.C.

While Iowa’s fuel tax hasn’tchanged in nearly 23 years, thecost of repairing roads and bridgeshas soared. In 1989, for example,it cost $140,000 per mile toresurface a two-lane road. By2007, that same road cost

$290,000, a 107 percent in-crease, Scott said.

The cost of fuel has added tothe price jump, added Ron Haden,who serves as the county engineerfor Sac and Calhoun counties.“About 25 years ago, a county en-gineer’s annual fuel bill wasroughly $60,000. Now the bill isabout $40,000 to $50,000 permonth.”

This loss of buying power issignificant, noted Scott, whoadded that infrastructure inputsranging from hot-mix asphalt toPortland cement to reinforcing

Taxing the systemHigher fuel taxes will benefit rural Iowa, say ag leaders ICGA

lobbiesfor fueltax hike

By DAVID DEVALOISFarm News staff writer

DES MOINES — The IowaCorn Growers Association ispart of a coalition of groupsseeking an increase in Iowa’sfuel tax during the 2012 leg-islative session.

Mindy Larsen Poldberg, di-rector of government relations,said Iowa Corn is among sever-al organizations seeking thetwo-tiered, 8-cents, fuel-tax in-crease — a 4-cent hike begin-ning in 2013 and another 4-cent increase in 2014.

The state fuels tax hasn’tbeen raised in 23 years.

While Iowa Corn typicallydoes not support tax increases,Larsen Poldberg said, the con-tinual deterioration of Iowa’sroads is the impetus for theirsupport this time of the fuel-taxincrease. The fuel tax is part ofthe Road Use Tax Fund, whichis used to build and maintainroads of all types in Iowa, in-cluding the network of farm-to-market roads for Iowa’s corn,


Ron Haden, county engineer for Sac and Calhoun counties, explains that the proposed fuel taxincrease is needed for maintenance of county roads and bridges.

See ROADS, Page 8 See ICGA, Page 7

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2012 CORN EDITION

soybean and livestock pro-ducers. “Transportation isimportant to the movementof commodities and value-added products in Iowa,”Larsen Poldberg said.

“Iowa’s roads are in veryserious need in many partsof the state.”

A second part of thefunding increase wouldcome from raising the use

tax imposed on the sale ofnew and used cars in Iowa.The Good Roads Coalitionis seeking an increase from5 percent to 6 percent onthe use tax, which is alsopart of the RUTF.

Larsen Poldberg saidone of the key safeguardsof the RUTF is that legisla-tors cannot move moneyfrom that fund to cover ashortfall in the state’s gen-eral fund or any other stategovernment purpose. “Theroad use tax is a constitu-tionally protected fund. Itcannot be used for any oth-er purpose.”

Prior to the start of thelegislative session, Gov.Terry Branstad announcedhe is not in favor of raisingthe gas tax and wants tolook within the budget firstto pay for road improve-ments. Larsen Poldbergsaid she and other lobbyistsare undeterred by the gov-ernor’s statements and havebipartisan support for theincrease.

“What the governor saidwas we first need to lookwithin the budget and givethe first consideration to ef-ficiency,” Larsen Poldbergsaid. “When I read those re-marks, I did not take it thathe was not supportive.

"I’d like to think there isa great opportunity there.The Legislature on a bipar-tisan basis is already work-ing on introducing a bill.”

Contact Dave DeValois [email protected].

ICGA Continued from Page 6

-Farm News photo by David DeValois

Iowans may soon be paying a high fuel tax thisyear. iowa has not raised the tax for 23 years andleaders say interior roads and bridges are in need ofupdates.

JOHNSTON (ICGA) —Rising incomes in develop-ing countries are boostingdemand for meat and dairyproducts from corn-fed live-stock resulting in the highglobal demand for corn andramping up the future de-mand for protein.

The international and do-mestic demand for corn iscausing farmers in Iowa andaround the U.S. to considergrowing more corn andmaximizing yields to helpmeet the increased demand.

Is 300-bushel corn possi-ble?

Dr. Fred Below, profes-sor of plant physiology withthe University of Illinois,has done extensive researchand has identified seven ofthe most important factorsto achieve the highest possi-ble corn yields – the elusive300 bushels per acre.

Below and his research

assistant, Adam Henninger,have shared the seven-stepmanagement approach,“Seven Wonders of theCorn Yield World,” to teachfarmers about how their in-dividual crop managementdecisions affect crop yields.

Their seven wonders plottests include combinationsof five groups of high techpractices together and indi-vidually in a unique “omis-sion plot” design.

The omission of any onegroup or input, allowed Be-low and Henninger to seethe bushel yield increasedor decreased.

Then they compared thefindings to other plots inwhich all seven actionswere in place in the sameplot.

Replicated in various lo-cations over various years,the results allowed them toidentify and rank those sev-

en factors with the greatestimpact on corn yield.

The standard practicepackage included no soilfertility test, the applicationof 180 pounds of UAN pre-plant, a Roundup Ready hy-brid with soil insecticide at

What does it take toreach 300 bushel yields?

See 300, Page 8

“If you’re going toconsistently get high

yield, it makessense ou know

those managementfactors ... and

make sure you getthose right every

year.”—Dr. Fred Below

Uniniversity of Illinoisplant pysiologist

Corn demand up worldwide for food and fuel

friday, Jan. 27, 2012 www.farm-news.com farm news / fort dodge, iowa 7

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2012 CORN EDITION

steel cost nearly 50 per-cent more today than theydid in 1989.

“It would be like younot getting a pay raise formore than 20 years, butstill having to buy gro-ceries at today’s prices.”

As the Iowa CornGrowers Associationworks with Iowa lawmak-ers during the 2012 leg-islative session, the organi-zation will be asking thelawmakers to support a fu-el tax increase for road in-frastructure.

“ICGA will continue tosupport policies that areimportant for Iowa’s agri-culture industry to remainstrong,” said Kevin Ross,ICGA president and afarmer from Minden, whonoted that transportationinfrastructure is essentialfor corn growers andIowa’s economy. “Ourgoal is to work with legis-lators to provide supportfor initiatives to increasefunding for transportationand ethanol infrastruc-ture.”

A little adds upEven a one-cent-per-

gallon increase in the fueltax would generate more

than $20 million in addi-tional revenue each year,say fuel tax supporters. “Ifthe fuel tax rose by a nick-el, this would only cost theaverage driver an extra$25 to $35 a year,” Scottsaid, who noted that theaverage driver puts12,000 miles on his or hervehicle each year.

Iowa’s Road Use Tax

Fund is funded by the fueltax and is constitutionallyprotected from diversionsfor other purposes. In fact,Iowa has maintained aconstitutional amendmentsince the 1930s to ensurethat every penny from thefuel tax goes towards theRUTF, Scott said.

“The fuel tax moneydoes not go into the black

hole of the state’s generalfund,” said Scott, callingthe fuel tax a user fee. “Ifyou drive on Iowa’s roads,you pay the tax. If youdon’t drive, you don’tpay.”

The Iowa Farm BureauFederation thinks the gastax is the most equitableway to raise revenue forthe RUTF, said Tim John-

son, a senior research andpolicy analyst for the IF-BF.

“It’s a tax that followsthe usage of the productvery closely and the infra-structure for its collectionis already in place.”

Much of the fuel pur-chased in Iowa is used inthe state, Johnson said,who added that the IowaDepartment of Transporta-tion has estimated 13 per-cent of the RUTF revenueis paid for by out-of-statedrivers.

“If other revenuesources are used such asregistration fees or driver'slicense fees, only Iowa res-idents would pay thosefees. Other proposals suchas per-mile taxes and tollroads would require addi-tional infrastructure ornew processes for the col-lection of the taxes.”

Focusing on the futureTjepkes, who is a long-

time supporter of the fueltax, emphasizes that ahigh-quality transportationnetwork is vital to ruralIowa’s economic growth.

“You need good infra-structure for the flow ofcommerce to occur. Whilethe fuel tax is not alwayspolitically popular, we’lldefinitely be looking at itthis year.”

It’s vital for Iowa tokeep up with basic trans-portation infrastructuremaintenance, Scott said.“Since we’re not maintain-ing our roads at the ratethey are deteriorating, it’sonly going to get worse ifwe don’t take actionsoon.”

You can contact DarcyDougherty Maulsby by e-mailat [email protected].

Roads Continued from Page 6

planting, a 32,000 plantsper acre final stand in 30-inch rows and no fungi-cide.

The high tech packageincluded phosphorous, sul-fur and zinc included inMicroEssentials SZ, side-dressing 100 pounds of ex-

tra nitrogen as SuperUrea,planting a triple-stack hy-brid with soil insecticide atplanting, 45,000 plantsper acre final stand in 30-inch rows and applyingHeadline or Quilt at flow-ering.

Various parts of the

high tech package wereeliminated at differentplots to determine their in-dividual yield impacts.

The trials indicated anaverage 52 bushel yielddifference between a grow-er’s standard practice andthe high tech package, with

yield advantages rangingfrom 40 to 60 bushels.

Below said the sevenwonders of the corn yieldrankings and their averagebushels per acre value areweather, 70-plus bushels;nitrogen, 70; hybrid, 50;previous crop, 25; plant

population, 20; tillage, 15;and growth regulators, 10— for a total of 260bushels.

“If you’re going to con-sistently get high yield, itmakes sense that you knowthose management factorsthat are responsible for

high yield and make sureyou get those right everyyear and that’s where theconcept of the seven won-ders of the corn yieldworld came from,” he said.

Growers can find more in-formation by visitingwww.7WondersOfCorn.com

300 Continued from Page 7


Producers and ag organizations are championing the proposed fuel tax in-crease saying rural roads and bridges need to be maintained to assure that agproducts can get to markets.

“Infrastructure is what givesIowa agriculture a competitiveadvantage, but a lot of roads

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Chairman of House TransportationCommittee

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By DOUG CLOUGHFarm News staff writer

TEMPLETON — When CyrilRenze’s father, Joe Renze, openedRenze Seeds for business in1939, it was imperative to thefounder that he partner with farm-ers for both his company’s and thefarmers’ success.

“Cyril was just a boy, then,”saidPproduct Specialist MarkGruhn, “but it’s obvious he car-ried on the same philosophy as hisdad. He still wants to know thathis people — the farmers who dobusiness with Renze Seeds — arebeing looked after.”

In 2008, the Renze family soldthe seed brand and sales and mar-keting functions, as well as thesoybean production, to DowAgroSciences and retained thecorn production facility under thename RenPro.

The facilities sit side-by-sideabout five miles north of the Ren-ze Seeds corporate office in Tem-pleton. Cyril Renze’s sons, Timand Jeff Renze, own and operatethe RenPro corn seed facility.

“After the sale, the Dow peopletold us that they were interested inRenze Seeds for many reasonsthat they didn’t want to seechange,” said general managerCraig Williams. “It was madevery clear to us that we were tocontinue with Cyril’s vision offarm-by-farm, acre-by-acre care.”

Dow brought its expertise asthe nation's 38th largest companyto the table. “When you have thatkind of backing,” Williams said,“we were able to do some thingsin our changing marketplace thatwe couldn't do before.”

The Dow Chemical Co. boaststhat its 2010 sales were greaterthan Monsanto, DuPont and Syn-genta combined. “In 2011, ourcorn seed sales were up 25 per-cent, and we anticipate that 2012will be about as good,” Williamssaid.

Dow’s involvement with RenzeSeeds has allowed the company tobe taken more seriously, accord-ing to Williams. While a signifi-cant part of the company’s busi-ness model is still selling smallquantities of soybeans and corn tosmall farmers, they are better ableto work with large farms withDow’s backing.

“Of course, good product per-formance doesn’t hurt either,”Williams said. “Our seeds are ofequal or better performance withaccess to the best genetics andtrait research, courtesy of DowAgroSciences.”

Emphasizing its continuedpartnership with farmers, RenzeSeeds also created a processdeemed TAP — test, assess andplace.

The process emphasizes usingresearch plots to test hybrids with

traits Renze believes will outper-form in the upcoming season.

During the process, thefarmer’s field and growing condi-

tions are assessed to see how theuniqueness of each situation af-

fects seed choice.Finally, product specialists like

Gruhn help the customer to placethe right product for each sectionof land farmed.

“The process is meant to helpour customers find the right seedfor their field without the confu-sion of sorting through hundredsof potential trait and hybrid op-tions,” Williams said. ”When yougo from flood to drought and lateto early planting, it gets to betricky. That’s why we use three tofive years of data and our accessto the best research facilities in theworld.”

Williams said Renze Seeds'

Taking care of business

-Contributed photo

Crsaig Williams, general manager for Renze Seeds, stands by the company’s show trailer just outside its corporate office.Williams holds corn that a dealer dropped by to show how pleased he was with the brand’s performance. “We work with our cus-tomers to earn great results,” said Williams. “We’re always happy to have our customers talk to us, so we can continue to offer thebest corn seed possible.”

Chris Kraus, the warehouse manager at RenPro, carries a pallet of corn seed in the company’sCarroll warehouse. Tim and Jeff Renze, sons of Cyril Renzen, own and operate the RenPro facili-ty, which provides seed corn to the Renze Seeds company. Renze Seeds is owned by the DowChemical Co., which purchased the brand from the Renze family in 2008, acquiring all but the cornseed production facility.

... means ‘farm-by-farm, acre-by-acre care’ at Renze

“The process is meantto help our customersfind the right seed fortheir field without theconfusion of hundredsof potential trait and

hybrid options.”—Craig Williams

Renze Seedsgeneral manager

See RENZE, Page 10

JOHNSTON (ICGA) —At the same time corn farm-ers are producing recordcrops, they’ve changed howthey grow them and they arediscovering new ways togrow the crop.

“In other words, the waythings were done when mygrandparents were farmingdoesn’t always apply any-more,” said Deb Keller, afarmer from Clarion, andchairwoman of the IowaCorn Promotion Board.

“Things change — man-agement practices, equip-ment, technology, science,”Keller said. “It all comes to-gether in a tractor cab or

combine now, and I am suremy children will farm dif-ferently than we do today.”

Farmers have adoptedconservation tillage on mil-lions of acres of land, andcontinue to expand the useof no-till and minimal-tillpractices

The benefits for the envi-

ronment are significant. No-tilling means remnants fromthe previous year’s crop areleft untouched. Not onlydoes this improve the soilover time, but it significant-ly reduces soil run-off dur-ing snowmelt or heavy rain.

In fact, the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture notes

America’s corn farmershave cut soil erosion by 44percent in two decades byusing these innovative con-servation methods.

Eliminating run-offkeeps more than just soil inthe field where it belongs, italso keeps crop nutrients inplace and holds moisture in

the soil during the growingseason.

Plus, by traveling acrossthe fields less often, farmersuse less diesel fuel, general-ly around 10 percent less,Keller said.

Using less fuel means us-ing less energy and the en-ergy used to grow a bushelof corn has fallen 37 per-cent, because of this and theadoption of other technolo-gies.

Conservation tillage is anoption for more farmers to-day because of technologi-cal advances. Corn plantsthat are resistant and saferherbicides mean controlling

weeds in a no-till field ismore efficient with less ex-posure to the land and peo-ple.

Seeds that resist insectdamage mean fewer insecti-cides are needed to protectthe crop.

“If you are familiar with aglobal positioning system,you know when you shouldturn left or right,” Keller said.”What farmers use is similar,just a little more precise, ac-tually from 6 to 7 incheswhile moving across a fieldall the way down to less thanan inch of accuracy.

Quick facts about corn∫ 95 percent of America’s corn is grown on family farms.∫ 89 percent of America’s corn crop is grown without irrigation.∫ 20 percent more corn per acre is grown in the US than any other nation. ∫ 8 tons of greenhouse gas is removed by an acre of corn.∫ 44 percent of soil erosion has been cut by farmers using conservation methods.∫ 37 percent less energy is used to grow a bushel of corn today.

Cleaner, greener corn farming, with bigger yields

See GREEN Page 10

growth — not just simplesurvival — is a healthycombination of the found-ing family’s philosophyand Dow’s understandingof genetics.

“We operate on threebasic principles,” saidWilliams. “We never for-get who our customeris;,we don’t let our foot-print get out of control, andwe offer clarity to our cus-tomers as to what is thebest seed for their sec-tions.”

Renze Seeds’ “foot-print” primarily includesall of Iowa and Nebraska,with some presence inSouth Dakota, Minnesota,Kansas, and Missouri.

Williams, who also cre-ates marketing material forthe company, has workedwith Dow to bring clarity

to the seed choice and ap-plications. “It takes a lotof good people, however,to make this work,” hesaid. “We have great em-ployees. Everybody saysthat, but with Renze, it’s atradition.

“Julie Bylund has beenin Renze’s customer ser-vice department for 25years, and Leon Starmanhas been at the corn seedplant for over 40 years.When you have customers

and employees hanging inthere that many years, youmust be doing a lot right.”

Gruhn agrees.“Renze Seeds lets their

people do what they aregood at and gets out of theway,” Gruhn said. “We arehere for our customers, thefarmer. It’s something we’vedone well for a long time andwill continue to do.”

Contact Doug Clough at

[email protected].

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2012 CORN EDITION

Renze Continued from Page 9

“This precision agricul-ture does more than justprovide directions. It actu-ally steers the tractor orharvesting equipment,

keeping it on track, whilethe farmer monitors every-thing else around it.

“It reduces overlaps inthe field and passes

through the field.” If a farmer has ad-

vanced technology in hisplanter, he can even con-trol how many seeds are

planted in different partsof the field — more seedswhere yield potential ishigher and fewer where itisn’t.

Green Continued from Page 9

-Contributed photo

Corporate renze Seed employees at the Templeton office are, from left,Carrie Wenger, customer service; Mark Gruhn, product specialist; Julie Bylund,customer service; Stephanie Rosonke, receptionist; Mindy Woolsey, accounting;Dan Swalla, sales manager; Craig Williams, general manager and Darci Opper-man, distribution.

“Renze Seeds lets their people do whatthey are good at and gets out of the

way.”—Mark Gruhn

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friday, Jan. 27, 2012 www.farm-news.com farm newS / fort dodge, iowa 11

2012 CORN EDITION

By KRISS NELSONFarm News staff writer

McKINNEY, Texas—A patented technologyfrom the University of Illi-nois is making its way ontothe marketplace in a vari-ety of forms thanks to aSeptember 2010 agree-ment between the universi-ty and Corn Board Manu-facturing Inc., of McKin-ney, Texas.

CMBI is in the processof building plants to furtherdevelop products using thecorn-based structural com-posite technology that wasfirst developed by the Illi-nois inventors. The prod-uct, labeled CornBoard, isa renewable and eco-friendly alternative topressed wood.

Lane Segerstrom,founder and chief execu-tive officer of CMBI, saidCornBoard is made by har-vesting corn stover andcombining it with a resin,which is then bonded underheat and pressure to createthe material.

According to the compa-ny, for every acre of corngrown, more than 4,000pounds of corn stover is

left in the field, and withyearly corn production inthe United States increas-ing, that is more than 580billion pounds of cornstover left in fields each

fall, making it an abundantand renewable by-productof corn that is typically notutilized.

“Trees are costly to cutdown and mill,” saidSegerstrom. “While stoveris out in the field, it’scheaper. Even getting it ischeaper and there is lessfuel costs to handling it aswell.”

Collecting corn stover,according to CBMI, fromthe field, reduces C02 emis-sion from decomposingstover and allows farmers toutilize no-till farming meth-ods for increased efficiency.

“There’s a positive,"Sergerstrom said, "that itmay make it easier for thefarmer having some of thecorn stover removed."

Segerstrom said Corn-Board will be utilized as areplacement for pressedwood products in countlessapplications in which hiscompany is building facto-ries and exploring rural ar-eas to branch out to.

CMBI has built a proto-type facility in the NavajoNation, in northeast NewMexico, and has plans tobuild five new plants, aswell as additional plans tobranch out into the CornBelt as opportunities arise.

CMBI’s factories,

Segerstrom said, are small-er-scale factories that willfit nicely in smaller towns,which goes along with hisvision of seeing ruralAmerica keep competitiveand keep people working intheir towns rather than hav-ing to commute or evenmove to larger cities.

The factories are also“easy to run,” he saidwhich means local peoplecan be employed thererather than bringing in peo-ple to take their potentialjobs.

Keeping the factories insmaller towns also benefitsSegerstrom in that therewill be less fuel costs totransport the corn stover.

“We are excited. We candefine how jobs in ruralAmerican can be with aproduct coming more di-rect to the consumer,” saidSegerstrom.

CMBI has launched aline of longboard skate-

boards through “Stalk IT”skateboard line. Theselongboards are made from100 percent CornBoardcores.

Segerstrom broke theworld record for fastestspeed on a towed skate-board, averaging more than78 mph.

He is now certified bythe Guinness WorldRecords and the “Stalk IT”skateboard is featured inthe Smithsonian Institute.

Segerstrom said he de-cided to try breaking theworld record in order toshow the strength and re-silience of the “Stalk IT”longboards.

“I am so excited to setthis record and show theworld the strength and themany uses of CornBoard,”said Segerstrom, who is anavid skateboarder. “ThisStalk It board held up to ahuge amount of stress andstrain, and it was rock solid

all the way through to therecord-setting speed.”

Segerstrom said CMBIhas also developed theZEA Home Outdoor Col-lection Adirondack Chairthat is also made from 100-percent CornBoard, andmost recently has an-nounced that HuntingtonIndustries will produce itsline of ZeaHome uphol-stered furniture.

Segerstrom said they arecontinually looking intoother uses for CornBoardincluding snow boards,cabinetry and building ma-terials, replacing pressedwood.

“The list keeps going onand on,” said Segerstrom.“Just think of all the thingspressed wood is used in.”

Segerstrom was bornand raised on his family'sfarm near Ida Grove andcredits his rural back-ground that developed hisunderstanding of ruralAmerica.

“I make decisions morebased on the community andtheir best interest versus thebest interest of corporations,”he said. “It’s disheartening tosee small towns go away andstruggle.”

Contact Kriss Nelson [email protected].

-Contributed photo

SkateboardS is justone product being madefrom a new compoundcalled CornBoard, madefrom stover, mixed withresins.

“This Stalk It board held upto a huge amount of stressand strain, and it was rocksolid all the way through tothe record-setting speed.”

—Lane SegerstromFounder CBMI

Compound called CornBoard;may sprout new U.S. industry

Texan finds new use for stover

By DAVE DEVALOISFarm News staff writerJOHNSTON—The 2012

legislative priorities of theIowa Corn Growers Associa-tion aren’t likely to makemany headlines, aside froman effort to increase the fueltax to improve farm-to-mar-ket roads in Iowa.

ICGA's priorities includerestoring funding to theIowa Department of Agri-culture that was lost in bud-get cuts over the past fewyears, continued support onthe retail side for Iowa busi-nesses selling ethanol andbiodiesel, promotion of vol-untary programs that reducesoil erosion and improve-ment of water quality andgeneral support of livestockoperations.

(See related stories onpage 6.)

Mindy Larsen Poldberg,director of government rela-tions for Iowa Corn, saidthese legislative prioritiesare made by the associa-tion’s leadership after gath-ering input from membersthroughout the state in amonths-long process thatculminated in August withthe group’s annual policyconference. “As a staffmember I get excellent di-rection from our board,” shesaid.

“This year ICGA will

continued to support poli-cies that are important forIowa’s agriculture industryto remain strong,” saidKevin Ross, ICGA presidentand a farmer from Minden.“Our goal will be to workwith Legislators to reduceunnecessary regulations, aswell as providing supportfor initiatives to increasefunding for transportationand ethanol infrastructure,”

he said, in a press release.During the tumultuous

2011 legislative session,Iowa Corn was successful inwinning approval of theIowa Renewable Fuels In-frastructure Fund, which as-sists retailers in upgrading toE85 ethanol, blender pumpsor biodiesel.

For 2012, “ICGA iscommitted to maintain orexpand the Renewable Fuels

Infrastructure Fund, includ-ing E15 and E85," the re-lease reads. "This programprovides an opportunity forretailers to upgrade their in-frastructure through cost-sharing grants of up to 70percent.

"ICGA will protect thisprogram, and oppose any di-versions of funding to otherpurposes besides renewablefuels infrastructure."

Iowa Corn will also beworking to recoup some ofthe funding that the IowaDepartment of Agriculturelost to budget cuts.

Larsen Poldberg said IC-GA is not looking for an in-crease in funding overall.“The Legislature will see itas additional funding foranything that’s higher thanlast year, but we’re looking

only to get back to the levelswe were at before. We wantto be reasonable,” she said.

The Department of Agri-culture’s programs for con-servation and the state vet-erinarian are of particularconcern, she said. A conser-vation cost-share program,which is a 50/50 public-pri-vate partnership, helps cornfarmers create bumperstrips, terraces and grassedwaterways.

“This cost-share programis the single most effectivetool to improve water quali-ty and reduce soil erosion,”Larsen Poldberg said.

Iowa Corn also pledgessupport for Iowa’s livestockindustry, primarily in awatchdog role on legisla-tion.

“ICGA is committed to ahealthy Iowa livestock in-dustry and works with otherfarm groups to make surethat legislation affectinglivestock production is re-sponsible, reasonable andscience-based.

Livestock is corn’slargest customer, and ahealthy livestock industry isessential to the Iowa econo-my,” according to the ICGArelease.

Contact Dave DeValois [email protected]

+ +


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Bob Warnemunde WC & SW Iowa

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2012 CORN EDITION

ICGA sets 2012 legislative priorities


A heAlthy livestock industry is essential to the Iowa corn industry, since livestock feed is still the No.1 demand for corn.

By DAVE DEVALOISFarm News staff writerJOHNSTON—The 2012

legislative priorities of theIowa Corn Growers Associa-tion aren’t likely to makemany headlines, aside froman effort to increase the fueltax to improve farm-to-mar-ket roads in Iowa.

ICGA's priorities includerestoring funding to theIowa Department of Agri-culture that was lost in bud-get cuts over the past fewyears, continued support onthe retail side for Iowa busi-nesses selling ethanol andbiodiesel, promotion of vol-untary programs that reducesoil erosion and improve-ment of water quality andgeneral support of livestockoperations.

(See related stories onpage 6.)

Mindy Larsen Poldberg,director of government rela-tions for Iowa Corn, saidthese legislative prioritiesare made by the associa-tion’s leadership after gath-ering input from membersthroughout the state in amonths-long process thatculminated in August withthe group’s annual policyconference. “As a staffmember I get excellent di-rection from our board,” shesaid.

“This year ICGA will

continued to support poli-cies that are important forIowa’s agriculture industryto remain strong,” saidKevin Ross, ICGA presidentand a farmer from Minden.“Our goal will be to workwith Legislators to reduceunnecessary regulations, aswell as providing supportfor initiatives to increasefunding for transportationand ethanol infrastructure,”

he said, in a press release.During the tumultuous

2011 legislative session,Iowa Corn was successful inwinning approval of theIowa Renewable Fuels In-frastructure Fund, which as-sists retailers in upgrading toE85 ethanol, blender pumpsor biodiesel.

For 2012, “ICGA iscommitted to maintain orexpand the Renewable Fuels

Infrastructure Fund, includ-ing E15 and E85," the re-lease reads. "This programprovides an opportunity forretailers to upgrade their in-frastructure through cost-sharing grants of up to 70percent.

"ICGA will protect thisprogram, and oppose any di-versions of funding to otherpurposes besides renewablefuels infrastructure."

Iowa Corn will also beworking to recoup some ofthe funding that the IowaDepartment of Agriculturelost to budget cuts.

Larsen Poldberg said IC-GA is not looking for an in-crease in funding overall.“The Legislature will see itas additional funding foranything that’s higher thanlast year, but we’re looking

only to get back to the levelswe were at before. We wantto be reasonable,” she said.

The Department of Agri-culture’s programs for con-servation and the state vet-erinarian are of particularconcern, she said. A conser-vation cost-share program,which is a 50/50 public-pri-vate partnership, helps cornfarmers create bumperstrips, terraces and grassedwaterways.

“This cost-share programis the single most effectivetool to improve water quali-ty and reduce soil erosion,”Larsen Poldberg said.

Iowa Corn also pledgessupport for Iowa’s livestockindustry, primarily in awatchdog role on legisla-tion.

“ICGA is committed to ahealthy Iowa livestock in-dustry and works with otherfarm groups to make surethat legislation affectinglivestock production is re-sponsible, reasonable andscience-based.

Livestock is corn’slargest customer, and ahealthy livestock industry isessential to the Iowa econo-my,” according to the ICGArelease.

Contact Dave DeValois [email protected]

+ +


PRAIRIE CITY PRAIRIE AG SUPPLY 515-994-3200

MARSHALLTOWN CENTRAL IOWA FARM STORE

641-753-3996

WEBSTER CITY CASADY BROS. IMPLEMENT

515-832-4447

HARLAN SORENSEN EQUIPMENT

712-755-2455

RENWICK BOONE VALLEY IMPLEMENT

515-824-3231

MASON CITY MASON CITY RED POWER

641-242-2702

LAWTON S&S EQUIPMENT 712-944-5751

CONTACT ONE OF THESE DEALERS TODAY!

Contact one of these Area Sales Managers

Tom Matthys NW Iowa & SW Minnesota

Cell: (605) 670-2270 Elk Point, SD

[email protected]

Larry Hameister Central Iowa

Cell: (515) 290-6573 Gilbert, IA

[email protected]

Bob Warnemunde WC & SW Iowa

Cell: (712) 251-1497 Carroll, IA

[email protected]

Steve Sieg NW & NC Iowa

Cell: (712) 253-3490 Spencer, IA

[email protected]

Dan Schreck NC Iowa

Cell: (712) 229-7088 Paullina, IA

[email protected]

Nicky Smith Central Iowa

Cell: (515) 954-8058 Slater, IA

[email protected]

Authorized Dealer

www.meridianmfg.com

The F INE T WINE C OMPANY

“We Tie Up Your Business”

FROM SEED TO FEED WE HAVE ALL YOUR HAY NEEDS • Americas Alfalfa • Millborn Grass Seeds • Baler Twine • Net Wrap • Hay Preservatives

Contact Tony or Rick 866-999-1006

712-756-4388 Alton, Iowa

TOM EISCHEN SALES INC. 603 Hwy. 18, Algona, IA

Phone: 515-295-3377 • Fax: 515-295-3493 Tom Cell: 515-320-3377 Tim Cell: 515-320-3431 [email protected]

Corn, soybean seed, farm chemicals, native grass seed, STIHL & TORO sales

SUNDOWNER, H&H, DOOLITTLE, PJ TRAILERS

PHIPPS CROP INSURANCE

For more information call Dana at: 1-800-473-1908 or 712-732-1908

Office Hours: Mon.thru Fri. 9am - 12pm and 1pm - 4pm Crop Insurance is our only line, not just a sideline.

STOP BY THE OFFICE AND TALK WITH DANA!!

Remember the March 15th Deadline!

MARK BRUELLMAN BIN MOVING, INC. at your service for: • Moving bins up to 42’ diameter • Moving buildings up to 12 tons • Additional rings can be added on • Professional, fully insured

Mark Bruellman • 712-358-1617 (cell) texting preferred or 800-370-2467 • Rolfe, IA

• Over 3,500 moves since starting business in 1985 • Nationwide Service • Also AT-YOUR-FARM SEED CLEANING service

Check out Website www.binmover.com ““YYoouurr ppaarrttnneerr iinn ccrroopp aanndd lliivveessttoocckk pprroodduuccttiioonn..”” “Your partner in crop and livestock production.”

Locations in: Everly, Greenville, Gruver, Langdon, Milford, Spencer, Superior

Call 800-568-2238 for grain bids

2012 CORN EDITION

ICGA sets 2012 legislative priorities


A heAlthy livestock industry is essential to the Iowa corn industry, since livestock feed is still the No.1 demand for corn.

By ROBYN KRUGERFarm News staff writerOCHEYEDAN — With

spring planting popping upon their radar, seed dealersand sales representativesacross the region are work-ing hard this time of year toensure farmers are ready.

An early fall harvest,meant early seed orders, saidarea seed dealers. These ear-ly orders, linked with reportsof summer storm damage toseed crops, had an effect onthe availability of popularcorn hybrids in 2012.

Early varieties soughtSteve Swenson, a Pioneer

seed dealer fromOcheyedan, in eastern Osce-ola County, said he makes80 percent of his seed salesin the months of October andNovember.

As a certified crop advis-er, Swenson said it's his jobto know customers and theirfields.

“I try to know ahead oftime what my customers willneed for the following sea-son," he said. "Many of mycustomers rely on me tomake the decision on whathybrids they will be using.

"This allows me to planorders for the followinggrowing season and havethat stock on hand,” he said.Swenson said newer hybridsare often in demand and can

therefore be in limited sup-ply.

Early varieties are becom-ing popular with many of hiscustomers, Swenson said,since they’ve been showinghigher yields than in yearspast.

Swenson estimated that60 to 70 percent of his salesare 98- to 100-day corn va-

rieties. “I am suggesting thatmy customers not make anybig changes maturity-wisethis year,” he said.

“We were very fortunatein my area of eastern Osceo-la and had a very disease-free year,” said Swenson.

Tight supply for someKruger Seeds District

Sales Manager Nick Fro-hardt, in Milford, in Dickin-son County, services 10northwest Iowa counties.Kruger Seeds also saw earlyorders this year.

Though Frohardt findsthat most are in good supply,he agreed that some varietiescan be a bit tight.

“I suggest my customers

purchase a package of vari-eties.” he said. “Book now,if you haven’t already.” hesaid. “But have a game planin place and be consistent.

"I am interested in assist-ing customers make thosedecisions, if they have ques-tions they should give me acall,” he said.

Frohardt said he sees corn

sales up slightly over beansfor 2012, but there are stillorders to be made yet.

Among his counties,Sioux and Plymouth sawsignificant areas of Goss’wilt damage. He suggestedvisiting with a dealer aboutvarieties that have higher re-sistance to this disease andplanning for the unexpectedto prevent crop losses.

Mitigates risksJim McDermott, a Mon-

santo agronomist in Spencer,said orders were placed earlyacross the country this year.

“When it comes to seedsupply, Monsanto works tomitigate risk during seedproduction,” McDermottsaid.

"For corn seed, these in-clude over-production incase of a crop failure, grow-ing acres under irrigation,producing seed corn on mul-tiple U.S. locations and win-ter seed production.”

As far as early varieties,,McDermott said that innorthwest Iowa there is goodavailability of 95- to 100-day Dekalb corn hybrids.

He said many customerswill be moving to new traitsin seed corn offering Genu-ity Smartstax RIB complete.

McDermott said theremay be a few areas in north-west Iowa with increasedcorn acres, but no majorshifts are being seen at thistime.

When asked about Goss’wilt, he said, "We encouragefarmers to make their hybridselections on a number offactors like yield, agronom-ics and maturity. There hasbeen an increased interest inhybrids with Goss’ wilt tol-erance ... and we have hy-brids in our portfolio withvery good tolerance.”

Monsanto is focused onusing molecular breedingtechnology to identify spe-cific markers for Goss' wiltthat can integrated into itsgermplasm as a targetedtrait, “which will expand thereach of Goss' wilt tolerancein our corn portfolio," Mc-Dermott said.

He said Monsanto en-courages farmers to talk totheir local rep and agrono-mists if they have any ques-tions to help with hybridplacement and populationrecommendations for theirfarms.

Contact Robyn Kruger [email protected].

+ +

14 Farm News / FOrt DODge, IOwa www.farm-news.com FrIDay, JaN. 27, 2012

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2012 CORN EDITION

Dealers: Seed stock supply adequate

-Farm News photo by Robyn Kruger

Steve SwenSon, a Pioneer seed dealer in Ocheyedan, agreed with other brand dealers that the early har-vest meant early corn sales last fall. Dealers said most of the popular varieties are in adequate supply for the2012 growing season, despite reports that weather-related disasters caused a shortage in seeds.

OMAHA (CAB) — Cornis high. Logically, thatmeans feeders will sell cattlelighter with fewer days onfeed, right?

Not exactly. That’s whatShawn Walter, ProfessionalCattle Consultants, told at-tendees last September at therecent Feeding Quality Fo-rum.

“Every time we see an-other spike in corn pricesyou hear another analysttalking about how the higherration prices are going toforce fewer days on feed andcut carcass weights.

I don’t think that’s everhappened,” he said. “Ourdataset goes back to 1971and every time the cornprices increase, we see a re-sulting increase in out-weights as a result.”

PCC research shows it’s asound strategy for those sell-ing on a carcass basis.

“With the high costs ofgain, do we need to sell cat-tle earlier and avoid thegrids?” Walter asked. “Actu-ally, it’s the opposite.”

He explained “carcasstransfer.” As cattle get heav-ier, a higher percentage ofthe live weight gain goes tothe carcass.

“Putting on carcassweight becomes more effi-cient than putting on livegain,” he says. As feed costsclimb, that’s magnified.

In their database, using a$340 ration price, it is prof-itable to feed cattle for a live

endpoint up to 100 days –which means every day youfeed cattle beyond that point,your breakeven selling priceis increasing instead of de-creasing. However, cattle-men can continue to feed foranother 60 to 90 days for acarcass endpoint.

PCC sorted cattle recordsinto high, middle and low-profit thirds and compared

their characteristics. “Average daily gain is ob-

viously the most importantfactor in overall profitabili-ty,” he said, noting the high-est money-getters put on 3.3pounds (lb.) per day, com-pared to 2.8 for the leastprofitable.

“But as you dig into thedata, as cattle improved theirgrade, we also saw improve-

ment in that average dailygain,” he said. “Those twoare positively correlated.”

That makes sense, hesaid, because, “Cattlethat are able to gain effi-ciently are also able togain fat deposition andincrease grade. If youthink about it, gradingand performance shouldgo hand-in-hand, espe-

cially with the improvedgenetics we have today.”

The high-graders, gainersand profit-getters also had acommon, perhaps surprising,theme. They also had themost discounts.

“There tends to be anaversion toward having anyheavyweight carcasses, anyyield grade 4s and 5s or anydiscounts on the grid,” Wal-ter said.

“If you don’t have somediscounts, you haven’t takenthe entire pen to the levelyou need to.”

Those penalties are bal-anced by increased poundssold.

“Because of the addition-al days on feed and weight,you’re going to get addition-al grade, including higherpercentages of Certified An-gus Beef,” he said. “That’sgood, but you can’t justweigh premium versus dis-count.

“You’re actually going toget a premium on heaviercattle that are going CABand that more than offsetsthe few YG 4s and 5s you’regoing to get as a result.”

Walter’s main messagewas that times have changedand management and mar-keting strategies need tomatch these new economictimes.

“If you’ve never sold cat-tle on a carcass weight basis,you’ve always been a liveseller, maybe this is the onetime you need to look for op-

portunity to sell cattle on acarcass basis,” he said.

“Regardless of the mar-ket, there are cattle that makemoney and cattle that losemoney,” Walter said, notingthe average $200 spread inmonthly profit or loss.

Knowing cattle historycan help feeders make surethey hit the top end of thatrange.

“When you know how thecattle are going to grade andperform, you can put all thattogether and use that to pushthe envelope,” he said.

The meetings, held inOmaha, Neb., and GardenCity, Kan, were sponsoredby Pfizer Animal Health,CAB, Purina Land O’Lakesand Feedlot Magazine.

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frIDAy, JAn. 27, 2012 www.farm-news.com fArm news / fort DoDge, IowA 15

2012 CORN EDITION

-Farm News file photo

Red and black Angus cattle enjoy the sunshine in western Iowa. Data indicatesthat when corn prices go high, cattle producers tend to feed and market their cat-tle heavier, rather than shipping them out at lighter weights as one may expect.

“When you knowhow the cattle aregoing to grade...

you can use that topush the envelope.”

—Shawn Walter

Professional BeefConsultants

High-priced corn can be profitable for cattle

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Documents

2012 Corn Edition