Corn Growers Complete Year
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Com
growers can be proud. A year
of hard woric by National Com
Growers Association (NCGA)
and its more than 28,600 mem
bers paid off in a bumper crop
of accomplishments during
1993.
Three of the most important
victories ratification of the
North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), etha
nol’s inclusion in the Clean Air
Act’s Reformulated Gasoline
Program (RFC), and the suc
cessfully concluded Uruguay
Round of the General Agree
ment on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) came in the final
seven weeks, only after a solid
year of hard woric.
“In each of these cases, com
growers pushed for market
access and fairness in trade,”
said Pete Wenstrand, an Essex,
lowa, com grower and NCGA
president. “Our members made
phone calls, wrote letters, and
were persistent in voicing their
views on key issues. This
enthusiasm and commitment
paid off.”
For com growers, ratifica
tion of NAFTA signifies an
end to Mexico’s highly restric
tive system of quotas, tariffs,
and import licensing. U.S. com
exports are projected to
increase to 6 million tons (240
million bushels). NCGA led
more than 170 agricultural
groups in a pro-NAFTA coali
tion that pushed for NAFTA’s
ratification.
Com growers also gained
significant ground for ethanol.
Grower letters and telephone
calls were instrumental in get
ting the attention of the Clinton
Administration to include etha
nol in reformulated gasoline. A
proposed side rule will require
30 percent of the oxygenates
used in reformulated gasoline
be derived from renewable
resources. NCGA is still eva
luating the proposed rule. New
demand created for ethanol
will provide jobs for America.
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improve energy security and
contribute to rural economic
development.
The successfully concluded
Uruguay Round of GATT also
marks new opportunities for
com. New language on cereal
substitutes will protect the
duty-free status of com gluten
feed shipments to the European
Community. U.S. farmers will
continue to ship com to Spain
and Portugal. And more market
access for meats and other
value-added products is also
good news.
Com growers gained signif
icant ground in other areas.
NCGA unveiled Com Vision
2020, a landmark strategic
planning research project. It
also moved new technologies
forward to advance commer-
Test Weight A Big Concern In 1993 Corn
AMES, lowa Harvest
reports confirm expectations
that test weight generally will
be low in 1993 com from the
western Com Belt areas that
received heavy summer rains.
Charles Hurburgh, lowa
State University agricultural
and biosystems engineer, said
extreme wetness, crop disease,
com borers, and spotty early
frost combined to create wide
spread incomplete maturity and
low test weight conditions.
“For many farmers and grain
handlers, this is the first experi
ence with test weight problems,
a rare situation in the majority
of the Com Belt,” Hurburgh
said.
Test weight generally is a
measure of com bulk density,
the weight that will fit in a
bushel volume. It also is an
overall indicator of quality and
storability, but many studies
have shown that test weight
alone is not a precise indicator
of feeding value in com.
“The critical consideration is
how the test weight became
low, because nearly any stress
cial opportunities for biode
gradable plastics and supported
development of new value
added domestic markets.
Also, NCGA continued its
commitment to research. The
Corn Research Evaluation
Committee supported three
major projects. In cooperation
with Kansas State University,
NCGA continues to compile
the world’s only Com Utiliza
tion Research Database. Com
growers also helped the New
Uses Council establish its
world headquarters in St.
Louis.
In government, NCGA was
instrumental in winning con
gressional approval of agricul
tural appropriations which
increased funding for USDA’s
Alternative Agriculture
condition before or after
harvest will reduce test weight.
Generally, dry com with test
weight down to 50 pounds/
bushel will not have drastically
different feeding properties
than heavier com of the same
composition,” Hurburgh said.
“The well-founded belief that
heavy (56 pounds+/bushel)
com feeds better is based on the
general relationship of test
weight and protein in fully
maturc, non-stressed com.”
Com with test weight of 50
pounds/bushel and lower may
contain hard-to-digest free
sugars, less oil, and less or
incompletely-developed pro
tein. Extra fat and protein con
centrates may be needed to
restore animal performance.
Light com is extremely hard
to use in processing operations,
either wet or dry milling. Most
processors will not accept com
with test weight below 50
pounds/bushel.
“Light com is notoriously
hard-to-store and is prone to
breakage. As a planning esti
mate, figure the storage life of
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Research and Commercializa
tion program and for USDA’s
Water Quality Incentives Prog
ram. NCGA also minimized
the impact of new energy taxes
on farmers and defeated prop
osed increases in barge fuel
taxes.
Com growers built strong
coalitions. During 1993,
NCGA set a record of 93 cor
porate partners. As an informa
tion source, NCGA expanded
its reach to farm audience
through transmissions on
DTN, an electronic news ser
vice, and coverage in Com Far
mer magazine.
NCGA reached urban, non
farm audiences with proactive
media campaigns in Los
Angeles and Washington, DC.
light com to be half of normal
com, at the same moisture con
tent,” Hurburgh said.
The light 1993 crop com is
not increasing in test weight at
the nonnal 1:4 rate (1 pound
increase per 4 points of mois
ture removed). This is attribut
able to immaturity and early
death from several causes. Ele
vator and lab data agree that
with heated air drying, very
little test weight increase can be
expected, and with natural air
perhaps 1 to 2 pounds/bushel
will be gained.
“Elevator operators are
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Perhaps most significant,
NCGA completed its “Com
A National Renewable Resour
ce” curriculum kit. More than
300,000 fourth grade students
will receive and share this cur
riculum kit, which will intro
duce tomorrow’s consumers to
the environmental and social
benefits of com.
Also during 1993, NCGA
continued to reach com grow
ers with programs they want,
such as the National Corn
Yield Contest and the 35th
annual Com Classic. NCGA
increased its membership for
the 13th consecutive year to
28,685. It added Mississippi as
the 24th NCGA state affiliate.
Michigan became the 19th
state with a com checkoff
program.
being forced to measure and
discount for test weight in wet
com. In 1993, a discount for
low test weight in wet com is
not the extra discount for mois
ture it would have been in a nor
mal year. Processor discounts
for low test weight are increas
ing rapidly, so handlers are try
ing to cover on inbound grain
what will be paid on the out
bound,” he said. “The wide
spread (across the western Com
Belt) nature of the low test
weight problem virtually elimi
nates blending as a means of
buffering its economic impact.”