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
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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
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• Broadcast fertilizer from 60’ to 84’
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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.
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“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’