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EDISON, Ohio — There’s a lot of work to be done, and the new National Corn Growers Association president looks forward to every opportunity to get the industry back on its feet as quickly as possible.
John Linder, a fifth-generation farmer from central Ohio, took the NCGA helm Oct. 1.
Linder and his wife, Cheryl, along with his brother, Mike, raise corn, soybeans, soft red winter wheat and soybeans for seed. The Linders have two children and two grandchildren. In addition to traditional row crop farming, he also has livestock experience.
As NCGA president, Linder also serves as president of the NCGA Foundation, an executive committee member of NCGA’s Allied Industry Council and the association’s delegate to the U.S. Grains Council.
Previously, Linder served as the Corn Board liaison to the Market Access Action Team, on the Resolutions Committee and chaired the Finance and Engaging Members Committees. Additionally, he represented NCGA at the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research and the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center.
Prior to his election to the Corn Board, he chaired the Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team.
On the state level, Linder is a past chair of the Ohio Corn Marketing Program Board of Directors and past member of the Ag Credit Co-op Board.
“Combines are rolling across the country as we speak, cutting soybeans or shelling corn. For the moment, the focus is on getting this year’s crop safely into the bins and to the elevators, but soon all of us will be shifting our attention to the future,” Linder said to open a virtual press conference.
“For some, those plans might be to simply stay afloat while others see opportunities to expand their operations. Wherever you may be on that continuum, my pledge to you is there will be no stone left unturned in our efforts to create opportunities for our industry to recover and grow beyond the current situation.
“There’s a lot to be done, and we’re looking for every opportunity to get this industry back on its feet as quickly as we can. We value the relationship with the growers that we have.”
Linder noted the road to recovery features multiple paths that include working on a recovery with value chain representatives that’s designed to set the table for longer term opportunities.
“Some of the longer term opportunities we’re working toward include increasing sales of higher ethanol blends which the Next Generation Fuels Act that was introduced Sept. 24 in the U.S. House would do, expanding market access for U.S. corn in places like Southeast Asia and other growth markets for us. Strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. corn by leveraging the sustainability of U.S. corn to build preference for products is one way to do that. Improving our infrastructure system is yet another,” Linder said.
During the question-and-answer portion of the press conference, the new NCGA leader covered several topics. Here’s what he said.
On Goals
“I will do everything in my power to help our industry recover and grow. Another goal is to make sure that our national board is definitely on-track with looking at everything as we roll out a recovery plan to everyone’s benefit. So, the board will be engaged in that process, as well.
“I’d like for a lot of people to get to know the board a little bit, so I plan on getting them out there into the countryside where we can, which is difficult in this current environment. So, maybe there could have some different type of formats for that to take place. But I’d really like for folks to feel like we’re approachable. We want to hear what’s going on and any incidental anomalies that someone may be feeling we want to make sure that gets elevated to the national level.
“We’re working everyday in D.C. We have a great staff in D.C., and it’s such a remarkable environment these days, but we still feel like we can make a difference. So, we’re engaged every day on all topics that are relevant to us all.”
On Renewable Fuel Standard
“Advocacy is one thing, but making sure that the EPA upholds the law of the Tenth Circuit Court’s decision on small refinery exemptions. Obviously, it’s being contested right now, so we’re having those conversations with EPA and Administrator (Andrew) Wheeler on how do we proceed and he’s waiting to see how the rules come out after they’re contested.
“It’s the law. It was in the original RFS and the Tenth Circuit Court agreed with us. We need to remind him every day that irregardless we have to obey the law. Fifteen billion gallons is 15 billion gallons.”
On CFAP 2 And Beyond
“I don’t believe that there’s any amount of dollars that can make farmers whole that you could actually justify Congress coming up with. All of these (Coronavirus Food Assistance Programs) should keep folks in the game, but we’ve done a really good job at NCGA of taking those grower leaders and coming to decisions with our Risk Management and Transportation Action Team in working on the tools that help provide that safety net without government dollars.
“It’s a combination of everything that will get us through this, but rest assured the idea that every farmer and corn producer out there really is working toward self-sustainability where we really don’t need anything beyond our safety nets to keep us whole.”
On Ethanol Industry
“It’s tough. It really is. Plants are feeling a lot of pain, and we’re really looking at every avenue we can to support them. We work very closely with their associations to try to position them and work with what they feel is proper for positioning to help to keep those idle plants in place to where they can start back up as cars start to hit the road again and start using fuel.
“We’re also working diligently toward exports of ethanol, as well. Exports are what the ethanol industry needs, and we’re very much attuned to that. It’s a great market for us and it’s great for the U.S. economy. We really need to get ethanol back into full service.”
On Presidential Election
“It’s like having a portrait in a different frame. The issue is the same. The conversations are the same. The path forward probably needs a little tweak. This is normal business, I would say. I wouldn’t try to characterize this as being entirely negative on one side and positive on another because that wouldn’t be true.
“We don’t have any idea of what is yet to come if we have a change in the presidential election. We just know that we’ll still be engaged representing the folks that we need to represent in sharing our issues with whoever is in office at the time.
“This is normal. It happens every four years. Sometimes it repeats, and sometimes it doesn’t. We have our challenges and we take them one day at a time, one challenge at a time and sometimes we get to handle multiple challenges in the same hour. It will be fine.”