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 KyCGA News
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KyCGA Corn Connection
Weekly electronic newsletter
Kentucky Corn Farmer
Quarterly printed newsletter
News Releases
Kentucky Corn Growers Celebrate Record 2009 Crop
Farmers are Producing More with Less Impact on the
Environment
(1.29.10) Kentucky corn farmers were honored by their
peers for their outstanding yields on January 22 during the
Kentucky Commodity Conference in Bowling Green, Ky. While no
individual yield broke a state record, the average of the
winning yields far exceeded past average winning yields and
provided a snapshot of success of Kentucky’s 2009 record
corn crop. Read
more>>
Kentucky Corn
Growers Applaud NCGA’s Opposition to House Cap-and-Trade
Legislation
(1.25.10) The
Kentucky Corn Growers’ Association (KyCGA) applauds the
recent National Corn Growers Association decision to oppose
H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Several months prior to the National Corn Growers’ decision,
KyCGA board of directors passed a resolution to oppose this
Cap-and-Trade legislation based on information specific to
Kentucky’s corn industry. Wanting to investigate the impacts
on national agriculture further, NCGA retained Informa
Economics of Memphis, Tenn. to conduct an analysis.
Read more >>
NCGA Announces
National Corn Yield Contest Winners
(12.19.09) Advanced production
techniques, informed growing practices and improved seed
varieties helped corn growers achieve high yields in the
National Corn Growers Association 2009 National Corn Yield
Contest. Despite the challenging weather conditions that
plagued the Corn Belt throughout the year, entrants
continued to far surpass the national average corn yield,
even doubling it in some circumstances.
Read more>>
Kentucky Commodity Conference
to Focus on “Vision” and “Hope”
(11.23.09) The 2010 Kentucky Commodity
Conference is scheduled for Friday, January
22, at the Holiday Inn University Plaza in Bowling Green,
Ky. This one-day conference begins with registration at
11:30 a.m. CST. Read more>>
Knoth
will Lead KyCGA
Association names new
Executive Director
(11.16.09) - Laura Knoth,
Public Affairs Division director for the Kentucky Farm
Bureau, has been named executive director
of the Kentucky
Corn and Kentucky Small
Grain Growers Associations, which
serve
the interests of more than 2000 grain
farmers across
the Commonwealth. Knoth
will officially begin her
responsibilities on January 4, 2010. Association leaders say
her experience and environmental
background will serve the
organizations
well.
Read more>>
Kentucky Corn Growers Support Unprecedented National
Campaign to Expand Renewable Fuel Infrastructure
 8.11.09
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Consumers can enjoy more choices at the pump, gas station
owners can experience product flexibility, and the nation
can achieve its renewable fuels targets – all thanks to the
blender pump and the wider distribution of E85 and mid-range
ethanol blends. An unprecedented new campaign is underway
between leading corn-producing states, the American
Coalition for Ethanol, and the Renewable Fuels Association,
with the goal of installing 5,000 blender pumps nationwide
over the next three years.
The Kentucky Corn Growers Association (KyCGA) provided
funding for the campaign in order to support expansion of
the ethanol fuel market.
Learn more about BYO
Ethanol >>
Report Says Corn Ethanol Had Little Impact
on Food Prices
Corn Growers Say It’s Time for Agriculture to Stand Up and
Support Renewable Fuel
(4.20.09) – A study released last week by the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) found corn-based ethanol was responsible for only a fraction of
food inflation between 2007 and 2008, representing only 10 to 15 percent of
the total food price increase. The CBO report said that 85 to 90 percent of
the increase in food prices over the measured period came from something
other than corn prices, grain prices and ethanol.
“The study reports what we have known all along,” says Kentucky Corn Growers
Association President Philip McCoun, a livestock and grain farmer in
Shelbyville. “There are many other factors that played a much larger impact
on food prices last year.”
While corn prices did increase last year, which many sources have said was a
result of bad speculation, the price also came right back down after
American corn farmers were able to produce a crop that met market demand for
food, feed and fuel ethanol. In fact, there were more ending stocks of corn
than the two previous years.
“Opponents of biofuels promote a simplistic message that taking more from
the pie for ethanol leaves less for food and feed,” said NCGA Chief
Executive Officer Rick Tolman about the CBO report. “The reality is that the
pie is getting bigger and more can go for ethanol without taking away corn
from food and feed. It is not a zero-sum game. Agriculture is in the midst
of a tremendous technology boom that is increasing productivity with the
same or fewer inputs and resources.
"The CBO report states that increasing crop yields or improving the
technology for making ethanol from corn or other sources would tend to lower
food prices,” Tolman continued. “Both of those are happening today. Corn
yields in the United States have doubled over the last 30 years, and will
double again in the next 20 years.”
Corn
grower and farm organizations across the country have been involved with
numerous consumer education campaigns to dispel myths regarding commodity
prices and their effects on food costs. According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, farmers receive less than two dimes out of every dollar spent
for food in the United States. Eighty percent of the costs of food,
including processing, transportation, packaging, distribution and retailing
are all added after the commodity leaves the farm.
“It is time for the farm
community to take a stand for ethanol and other agriculturally-produced
fuels,” said McCoun. “We can’t keep letting those with deep pockets push
misleading and sensational information onto the public. The facts are right
here in front of us, and we need to work together to drive the truth home.”
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