El6-Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 1 ! 9, 2002 CORN BITS NCGA CONTINUES STREAK OF SUCCESS THROUGH END OF FISCAL YEAR Sept. 30 marked the end of the 2002 fiscal year for NCGA, and the year ended on Penn State: Pa. ’.v Precipitation Has Increased UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) At the end of this torrid, drought-rid den summer, it no doubt will surprise many Pennsyl vanians to learn that the state receives more rain than it used to. But that’s a fact, according to climate experts at Penn State. “The amount of precipi tation that we get here in Pennsylvania has gone up 10 percent in the past cen tury, since 1895 to be exact,” said state climato logist and Penn State in structor in meteorology Paul Knight. “It’s a well known fact among meteor ologists we are getting more rain than we used to. Most people don’t realize it because the amount of water we use has increased greatly. So the increase in precipitation has barely kept up with the increase in water use.” And even though the cur rent drought is part of a four-year span of below-av erage precipitation, there is nothing to suggest that Pennsylvania is turning into a mountainous expanse of arid landscape, accord ing to Bryan Swistock, ex tension water resources spe cialist in the College of Agricultural Sciences. “I don’t think that any body is prepared to say that HYBRID SEED CORN HIGH YIELDS - Check out the field trials performance against our competitors RESEARCH - We do our own test plots to develop our hybrids DEVELOPMENT - We prove our hybrids in field trials before we market them TECHNOLOGY - We have the latest technology available SELECTION ■75 to 117 day varieties available $69.50—572.50/80,000 Kernels - Non GMO $79.50/80,000 Kernels - Leafy $93.50/80,000 Kernels - Yieldgard (BT) $89.50-$92.50/80000 Kernels - Roundup Ready AMERICAN SEED COMPANY 6051 Carlton Ave., Porters Sideling Spring Grove, PA 17362 (800) 214-3340 a high note for the nation’s corn grower organization, which has seen some of its most notable accomplish ments over the past 12 months. With FY-03 beginning, the current drought is real ly a long-term weather pat tern that will end in Penn sylvania getting, say, 25 inches of rain a year, rather than the 40-some inches we get now. “There is no reason to think that will happen,” Swistock said. “We are just in a dry cycle. Even the models of global warming don’t have a great deal of strength when they try to predict precipitation trends. The models for global warming say some areas will get wetter and others will get dryer. The ones I have seen don’t suggest any significant changes for Pennsylvania.” There are examples of up-to-a-decade-long dry pe riods in recent history, Swistock points out, such as the parched 1960 s and the “dust bowl” era in the 19305. Global warming does seem to be showing up in Pennsylvania, Knight points out, but the effects are subtle. Temperatures are averaging about a de gree higher now than they were just generations ago. But he notes that scientists are not sure if there is some connection between in creased precipitation and slightly higher tempera tures overall. NCGA CEO Rick Tolman took a look back at the previ ous 90 days and outlined some of the key accomplishments: • NCGA organized 11 farm bill implementation meetings and released the farm bill calculator to further help growers understand the bill and determine how the farm bill affects their opera- tions. • NCGA closed the year by preparing for its upcoming move to a new facility in St. Louis County as an economic move to increase efficiency and return greater value to members and growers who in vest checkoff dollars in the as sociation. • NCGA is also building equity in the area of research and development by continu ing to develop commercial re lationships with groups such as CargiU-Dow, Shell, the De partment of Energy, and oth ers. • While the fourth quarter didn’t see the completion of a national energy bill with a re newable fuels standard, the bill was passed to conference and NCGA growers not only continue to put pressure on their elected officials to get this issue finished, but to acti vely defend the bill both in their communities and on a national level. • A continuing issue for NCGA and the nation’s com growers has been the national and international acceptance of biotechnology. Recent trips to Europe plus participation Diversify your services. Multiply your profits. on the go. • Broadcast fertilizer from 60’ to 84’ Annville Equipment Co. 470 Palmyra-Bellegrove Road, Annville, PA 17003 717-867-4631 or 800-233-0520 We Ship egg We Provide Parts & Service on New Leader Spreaders IUDSj Email: aeci@paonline.com Website: annvilleequipmentcompany.com (0(D1M miLl Ml WO in the World Com Congress in Pau, France, have been a step in the right direction. • NCGA also established a crop disaster task force to ad dress the plight of com grow ers affected by adverse weath er conditions nationwide. “We have been very suc cessful this past year at build ing partnerships and coali tions and finding the common ground with groups for the benefit of the com producers that we represent. This is an important principle there is great strength in partnership and coalition,” Tolman noted. NCGA Tops Membership Record NCGA continues to attract com growers from all over the country as membership soared to 32,369 in August, an in crease of 441 from July 2002 and a 1,165 member increase from July 2001. This record did not stand long as Septem ber was another record month with 32,379 members, a 10-member increase from Au gust 2002. While most associations are experiencing significant de clines in membership, NCGA membership grew 1.52 percent for the fiscal year 2001-2002, said NCGA Membership Services Manager Byron Kee lin. “Several states also had significant increases in mem bership this year too,” he said. control of conveyors. For more Information contact: “Ohio Com Growers Asso ciation added 305 members to its roster a 15.8 percent in crease, North Dakota added 206 members a 15.47 percent increase, Illinois added 191 members a 4.6 percent in crease.” Other states include Mis souri 169 members, Wisconsin 101 members, Minnesota added 215 members, lowa added 81 members, Michigan added 28 members, and Ten nessee added 13 members. NCGA On the Move: On Schedule And Under Budget Soon the St. Louis staff of NCGA will move into its new facility in west St. Louis County. According to Dr. Richard Glass, NCGA vice president of research and de velopment, everything’s mov ing according to plan. “We (were at the building yesterday) and everything is progressing according to schedule,” said Glass. “In fact, we’re currently under budget for the project, which is always positive.” NCGA Director of Human Resources Judi Segalini said the construction has been fast paced. The new address is NCGA, 632 Cepi Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005, (636) 733-9004, Fax: (636) 733-9005. ader with pper. Single hopper conversion: • Broadcast ag lime • Broadcast pre-blended fertilizer. • Broadcast fertilizer 60‘ to 105’ and lime up to 60’
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