The National Agricultural Genotyping Center, championed by the National Corn Growers Association, marks its one-year anniversary today and it does so with a significant list of accomplishments of importance to corn farmers.
NAGC’s mission is to translate scientific discoveries, such as the information from the maize genome project, into solutions for production agriculture, food safety, functional foods, bioenergy and national security.
“We are extremely excited to see this state-of-the-art facility living up to its promise,” said Larry Hoffmann, chair of the NCGA’s Corn Quality and Productivity Action Team. “The Genotyping Center is already building a reputation for using its high-throughput genotyping technology to both inform and solve problems facing agriculture.”
In just a year’s time, NAGC has been able to commercialize tools to help corn growers and all of agriculture, Hoffman noted, including a screening assay for honey bee diseases and faster and more effective tests to accurately identify corn diseases like Xanthmonas and Goss’s Wilt. Additional test for corn and soybean diseases are in the research pipeline.
COVID-19 Resources
NCGA is taking a series of actions to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic fallout it is creating for corn farmers and our customers. Short term, this means instituting policies to protect the health and safety of our stakeholders and the broader communities we serve. Long term, we’re focused on creating solutions to help corn farmers and our customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis.
CommonGround
CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.
SHP
The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.
