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 …
Panera Chicken Claims Make as Much Sense as Hens Clucking
The marketers over at Panera are certainly a clever bunch. Only a few years after Chipotle upped its anti-antibiotic claims, the chain bakery decided to cluck a little louder about its use of antibiotic free chicken. The concept lack both originality and substance. This marketing tactic relies on the public to fill in a false blank. In boasting about the …
Little Change in New Supply Demand Report
Projected 2012/13 U.S. corn ending stocks were unchanged from last month’s estimate in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report out Friday, lowering exports but increasing feed use and keeping corn use for ethanol the same. Corn exports were lowered 75 million bushels, imports were increased 25 million, and feed usage was increased by 100 million - due in …
You Always Pay in the End
Every reasonable adult knows that you always end up paying in the end. If you skimp in one area, you tend to make up the difference somewhere else in your life. So why does a small group of meat and poultry producers think that consumers are so reactionary they will thoughtlessly support short-sighted energy policies to save a few bucks? …
No Reason to Fear Our Food Supply
This week we are supposed to be afraid of eating eggs. Apparently we have about a 1 in 20,000 chance of getting salmonella from eating eggs. The odds are slightly higher that you will die in a fall this year. I will take those odds and so would Vegas. Interestingly enough I celebrated the big egg scare by whipping up …
HSUS Squawks Like Chicken Little!
Chicken Little the Sky isn’t falling and if you were in a nice safe building you wouldn’t care if it was! They say that fear may be the top motivator for mankind but I have a sneaking suspicion that guilt may be a close second with sticky and delicious Cinnabon ranking third. With this psychological quirk in mind there are …
More Corn for Chicken Feed
USDA increased the projected use for livestock feed in the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates out on Friday. Total U.S. corn use for 2009/10 is increased 5 million bushels. Feed and residual use is projected 50 million bushels higher reflecting the higher forecast yield and crop. Joe Victor with Allendale, Inc. says this reflects optimism in the poultry …