Growers Must Continue to Add Value, Forge Links (11-17-06)

Agricultural producers must commit to research and technology, and seize opportunities to add value to their products. That’s the lesson of the growth of ethanol, according to National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Vice President of Public Policy Jon Doggett.

Doggett represented corn growers at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit this week in Washington, D.C. The summit brought together organizations and industry representatives to discuss the role cellulose will play in advancing renewable fuels alternatives.

Doggett emphasized that corn producers must maintain their role as stakeholders in the industry, not just suppliers. “The corn growers’ position in the value chain is not at the bottom,” Doggett told a roundtable panel. “It is at the beginning, the middle and the end. It is going to take corn and other feedstocks to continue to grow the dynamic ethanol industry. We are not in competition, but should be collaborating.”

Other key points NCGA emphasized to the gathering:

• All feedstocks will grow the ethanol industry. The issue is not about corn vs. cellulosic, but who owns product and adds value.
• New technology has made our industry more efficient, but we must have technology to advance the value-added aspect to the agriculture industry.
• We must add value to efficiently produced commodities.
• We must have policies that elevate research and encourage technology that producers can use to add value to the basic crop.
• There is a need for new business structures that will meet the changing needs of output-based agriculture.
• Finally, we need to continue to prepare the market, industry and growers for an agriculture economy that’s moving away from government support to one that’s built on value-added agriculture. Value must be in the hands of the producers.

Doggett participated in a roundtable discussion, “The Agricultural Community's Perspective on the Value Chain.” Other panelists in the discussion were: Tom Buis, National Farmers Union president; Duane Grant, owner and manager of Grant Four-D Farms; Richard Hamilton, Ceres, Inc. president and CEO; and Dale Schuler, National Association of Wheat Growers president.

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns delivered the keynote address, “Agriculture’s Role in Building a National Cellulosic Ethanol Industry.”