New NCGA leader sets priorities

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Expanding demand to bring profitability back to corn farmers while being “at the table” working with legislators remains top priorities for the National Corn Growers Association.

Jed Bower, NCGA president, spoke of the organization’s priority issues at the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s annual meeting.

Bower raises corn and soybeans near Washington Court House, Ohio, with his wife, Emily, and children, Ethan and Emma, on their fifth-generation family farm.

“We’re a smaller operation in south-central Ohio and farm just over 1,000 acres. My son came back to the farm this year. He’s taking a break from college, which I was a little worried about, but has kind of gotten excited about ag. I didn’t see him coming into that field. So, I’m super pumped personally. I’m excited that my son wants to become potentially the sixth generation on our farm, but also worried with the way American agriculture, just the whole economy, is right now,” Bower said.

In addition to serving as president of NCGA, Bower chairs the organization’s Resolutions Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee.

Previously, he served as board liaison to the National Pork Producers Council and Waterways Council Inc. and to the NCGA’s Member and Consumer Engagement Action Team and Production Technology Access Action Team.

Prior to his election to the board, he served as vice chair of NCGA’s Market Development Action Team and as a member of the Sustainability Advisory Group and Nominating Committee.

At the state level, Bower served as president of the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association and as a co-chair of Corn Vision 20/20.

Growing Season

Bower went through many of the same challenges on his farm as southern Illinois and Indiana farmers faced this past spring with relentless rain.

“We were 30 to 45 days late. The rain just kept coming and then it shut off in mid-July and we never had any true measurable rainfall until about the middle of September,” he said.

“Obviously, that took the top out of everything, but these genetics are strong. The companies have truly created crops that just keep going. So, they weren’t off as bad as we thought. We were probably 5 to 10 bushels off on soybeans and 15 to 20 off on corn.”

NCGA Priorities

Agriculture continues to face challenges with high input costs, lower commodity prices and the need for increased demand.

“As president, my priority this coming year is just bringing profitability back to the American corn farmer. Now, within that, there’s a couple buckets that we look at at NCGA,” Bower said.

“Demand is huge. It’s demand with ethanol markets, with exports, and with new uses here in the United States.

“On the ethanol side, E15 is super positive. We almost had it at the end of the year last year. Hopefully by the end of this year, first quarter of next year, something can get done. We are working with the oil industry on this, with the idea of saving and preserving the internal combustion engine and preserving liquid fuels into the future.

“I can’t deny potentially, maybe electrification might be the way of the future, but we do not have the infrastructure for that. Everybody realizes that. That’s not practical. So, we can be that stepping stone or bridge, and the nice thing about it is with the American corn farmer, our yield trends keep going up. We can continue to build on the ethanol industry, we can extend our bridge out as long as we need to, and I think that’s going to be great for the American farmer.”

Finding new uses for U.S. corn is another bucket NCGA focuses on.

“There are things popping up all the time. Unfortunately, we don’t see anything right now that might be the next ethanol, but you never know. It could be there, but every little bit that we can take out of that pile of corn and do something else with, that brings more money back to the corn farmer,” Bower said.

“Looking on the export side, there are huge potentials. We’ve seen and heard of all these huge export numbers. Obviously the market’s not showing that right now, but we’re continuing to push on that.”

NCGA has been working with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on the trade side, as well as with the group’s sister organization, the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council, to promote U.S. corn in other countries.

“There’s great potential in Southeast Asia, long-term potential into Africa,” Bower said. “I think we’re going to be building those bridges to get into those countries, and I think that will create profitability to the American corn farmer on down the road.

“As we also look into this export side of things, meat usage or protein intake here in the United States is fairly flat, but as we continue to build back the flocks from the bird influenza and build these herds back in the beef industry, obviously, we’re going to continue to feed them corn.

“If we can help them export their meat products around the world, because so many countries now are trying to increase their protein intake, the more that we can ship their products around the world, the more corn they’re going to eat, when we feed them out, so it’s a win-win for both of us.

“Then obviously, within the ethanol market, we have the byproduct, dried distillers grains. A great feed product for all the livestock here in the United States, but we’re also exporting that around the world. It’s becoming a pretty staple product in some of the aquaculture in Southeast Asia.

“So, again, building on those markets, having those conversations, meeting the individuals, pushing American corn.”

North American Trade

The dispute between Mexico and the United States has been resolved.

Over two years ago, Mexico issued a presidential decree banning the use of genetically engineered corn in dough and tortillas and instructed Mexican government agencies to gradually eliminate the use of GE corn in other food uses and in animal feed.

A U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement panel agreed with a U.S. challenge late last year, finding that Mexico’s measures were not based on science and undermine the market access that Mexico agreed to provide in the USMCA.

“We won that battle and they dropped it. They’re taking record amounts of corn. They have new leadership there, too. Mexico is so strong. Not sure how many know this, but Mexico imports more of our corn than the second, third, fourth and fifth of our export markets combined. That’s a tremendous amount of corn, so we have to keep that relationship strong. It’s so beneficial to us, but it’s also beneficial to them because it’s direct rail access right in,” Bower said.

“It’s a very similar story with Canada with shipping our ethanol north. So, again, building those bridges, continuing to keep it strong in the ag sector, we’re super friendly with both of them. They’re great partners, and we would love to see the USMCA extended out for another 16 years. I’ll be in D.C. next week testifying to that.

“NCGA is constantly looking at ways to support and make the American corn farmer more profitable, whether we’re working on legislative issues, regulations, export markets, any way, we are there, we are at the table. Our office in D.C., our office of St. Louis, our staff members are diligent in that.”