Commentary by Chris Novak, Chief Executive Officer, National Corn Growers Association In less than a week’s time, colleagues in the cattle industry will head off to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in the 120th Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show. Further south, our friends in the poultry industry will head to Atlanta, Georgia for the largest annual trade show for the …
Propane Gas Pains
In recent years, the U.S. propane industry has been growing by leaps and bounds, producing so much that they were even had a good export market going. But a perfect storm arose this winter that has caused pain at the propane tank, with shortages and prices skyrocketing to $5 a gallon before settling back down a bit. “It pretty much …
How One Cattleman Views Corn
We’ve highlighted Bill Couser of Couser Cattle Company several times on this blog but this week was the first time I had the opportunity to meet and spend some quality time with this great guy and his fabulous wife and son during the Truth About Trade and Technology Global Farmer Roundtable. The Couser operation has been a stop for the …
Japan Ready to Beef Up Again
A group of Nebraska corn farmers and cattlemen are convinced after a recent trade mission that Japan will soon return to its traditional spot as the number one export customer for U.S. beef. The Nebraska Corn Board funded the participation of five Nebraska producers on the Japan mission, which centered on Tokyo and the Sendai region. They are pictured here …
Giving Up Giving Up Meat
The cafeterias that feed our nation’s federal legislators and their staffs are giving up giving up meat on Mondays. Surprisingly, this actually causes strife in some circles. As detailed in a recent article in Politico, the Congressional Vegetarian Staff Association (yes, this is a real thing) holds the big beef lobby to blame for this sacrilege at the altar of …
Immigration Policy Impacts Food Affordability
Thanks to highly mechanized planting and harvesting, plus the advantage of a crop that can be stored for long periods of time, corn growers are largely able to function without the use of a migrant work force. But, even those row crop farmers who don’t directly employ migrant laborers have a reason to care about comprehensive immigration reform. The dairy …
ISU Climatologist Looks at 2013
Iowa State University professor Dr. Elwynn Taylor is one of the nation’s foremost extension climatologists, but even the best sometimes get the weather forecasts wrong. When asked this time last year what the drought possibilities were for Iowa he said “less than 50%.” Take those odds to the racetrack and you would have been a big winner last year if …
May Snow Showers Bring Spring Crops for Farmers
Recently, CommonGround Colorado volunteer Danell Kalcevic, who farms and raises cattle outside of Denver, penned an op-ed on why consumers may see higher beef prices this grilling season. While some may say farmers and ranchers must be profiting from this rise, Kalcevic explains how last year’s drought is still impacting ranchers. May Snow Showers Bring Spring Crops for Farmers As …
What’s in My Beef?!?!
Today, Corn Commentary offers a guest post from blogger Lana Hoffschneider, a CommonGround Nebraska volunteer. Hoffschneider, along with 85 volunteers in 15 states, is participating in a movement that looks to open a conversation between the women who grow food and those why purchase it. CommonGround was formed by the National Corn Growers Association, the United Soybean Board and their …
Can we Find Common Cause with HSUS?
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack raised more than a few eyebrows this week at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting when he suggested that animal agriculture should “sit down and make common cause” with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and that those who are “engaged in constructive engagement … shouldn’t be faulted for doing so.” Now I …