Bioproducts, or corn-based industrial products, are the single largest potential growth market for corn growers. Ethanol currently utilizes 700 million bushels of corn. There is great potential in areas such as plastics, solvents, packaging and other consumer goods to provide very large markets for U.S.-grown crops. There are also tremendous opportunities for grower-owned processing facilities and rural development, which is a pressing issue for rural America and agriculture as a whole. Finally, developing and using products made from renewable, U.S.-grown resources are important to America’s energy security and environment.

NCGA has been an avid supporter of the biobased products industry, having originally partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop the Agriculture Industry Vision and the Plant/Crop Based Renewable Resources Vision and Roadmap documents. NCGA continues to advise DOE and USDA through representatives on various biobased products advisory boards. NCGA is a leader providing vision and direction for the research and development needs of the emerging biobased products industry.

NCGA works primarily on the federal level to increase the funding of research and development programs aimed at developing the bioproducts industry. NCGA also sponsors activities such as the recent workshop on federal procurement of bioproducts.