In The News

Feb 16, 2024

Key Issues: Production

Author: Krista Swanson

USDA released the Grains and Oilseeds Outlook this week providing an initial look at the 2024/25 marketing year projections that include lower production, greater domestic use, increased exports, and higher ending stocks as compared to the current 2023/24 market years. The following is a summary and some additional context for five projections from the latest outlook.   Yield Corn yield is projected at 181 bushels per acre. Yield projections depend on the modeling approach and time series used. While a 3.7 bushel per acre increase over the 2023 record 177.3 bushels per acre may seem like a stretch, a regression on annual yields from 2023 to several different historical points including 1934, 1980, and 1996 all predict 2024 yields within about one bushel of the USDA projection.   Trendline yields are a reasonable expectation at this point. Adverse weather is generally thought to have a negative impact on yields but in 2023 a record yield was achieved in a year with widespread...

Aug 29, 2023

Key Issues: Production

Author: Glenn Nice

Content provided by Glenn Nice, University of Wisconsin-Madison   The University of Wisconsin-Extension will be hosting a Spot Spray Technologies Extension Zoom Webinar on Wednesday, September 6 from noon to 2 p.m. CT. It will address the use of novel technologies with real-time camera-based weed detection systems for site-specific weed management (aka spot spraying) such as the Blue River Technology John Deere See & Spray Ultimate, One Smart Spray (Bosch-BASF joint venture), and the Greeneye technology. Each technology accounts for spatial variation in weed density by spraying foliar herbicides only on areas with weed infestation (“green-on-brown” for burndown PRE-emergence applications and “green-on-green” for foliar POST-emergence applications).   The goal is to generate awareness and address agricultural stakeholder questions regarding these novel technologies. This FREE technical webinar is being organized by Rodrigo Werle and Glenn Nice, University of Wisconsin-Madison;...

Aug 23, 2023

Key Issues: Production

Author: Colleen Willard

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Tom Haag testified today before an Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel about the importance of atrazine to corn farmers. “NCGA commends the scientific and risk-based analysis and conclusions of the EPA in this reevaluation of the 11 atrazine studies identified by the 2012 Scientific Advisory Panel as calling for further review to assess the effects to aquatic plant communities,” Haag noted in the testimony. “NCGA points to the conclusions in the white paper, which continue to affirm scientific evidence which supports the safe use of atrazine while protecting the vital aquatic plant communities and their related ecosystems.” The purpose of the SAP is to seek feedback on the draft white paper, Examination of the Microcosm/Mesocosm Studies for Evaluating the Effects of Atrazine on Aquatic Plant Communities, which is being submitted to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act SAP for peer...

Dec 12, 2022

Key Issues: Production

Author: Krista Swanson

The following is a brief analysis by Krista Swanson, the lead economist for the National Corn Growers Association.   The United States Department of Agriculture released the December World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) report on Friday. Most United States grain and oilseeds estimates were unchanged from last month. Citing slow sales and shipments through early December and competition from other exporters, the USDA lowered corn exports for the 2022/23 marketing year by 75 million bushels resulting in an equivalent increase in projected ending stocks with no other changes on the corn balance sheet. To dig into USDA’s assessment of slow sales, here is a look at corn export sales so far this marketing year. With data through Week 14 of the marketing year, weekly exports for 2022/23 are represented by the solid blue line. Exports to date in this year are notably trailing last year and the five-year average pace represented by the blue dashed and dotted lines. The...

Sep 27, 2022

Key Issues: Farm PolicyProduction

Author: Bryan Goodman

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is encouraging growers to join its call-to-action and submit comments to the EPA on the important role atrazine, a popular herbicide, plays in their work. The call-to-action was launched over the summer as EPA began revising its registration for atrazine. EPA is proposing a level of concern for atrazine at 3.4 parts per billion, down from the current level of 15 parts per billion. The move would significantly impair the effective use of atrazine on farms, according to NCGA. “Atrazine allows corn growers to experience higher yields using less land with fewer inputs, which is good for the environment and saves growers money,” said Brooke S. Appleton, vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association. “Reducing the effectiveness of this important herbicide will hinder the work of farmers and turn the clock back on our conservation efforts.” Since the organization launched the call to action on July 20, more than...

Aug 2, 2022

Key Issues: TradeFarm PolicyProduction

Author: Dusty Weis

Two key players who argued their case on behalf of NCGA discuss the win and what it means for farmers.   Over the last several years, tariffs and trade have been a major pain point for growers.   But this summer, the NCGA has helped bring home a huge win for America’s farmers in a recent International Trade Commission case involving proposed tariffs on imported Urea Ammonium Nitrate fertilizers.   So in this episode, we'll talk to Andy Jobman, a Nebraskan corn farmer, and Jared R. Wessel, an attorney with Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. These two played major roles in arguing NCGA's case at the ITC hearings.   Andy and Jared will discuss how they argued their case, why this win was so important, and what the industry needs to do next to continue to fight unnecessary trade restrictions.     DIRECT SHARE LINK: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/ncga?selected=PDM7121861421   TRANSCRIPT   Andy Jobman: The fact that CF industries said that farmers aren't their...

Jul 22, 2022

Key Issues: Production

Author: Gaylen Holloway

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has launched a call-to-action asking advocates to submit comments to EPA in response to the recent announcement that they are revising the registration for atrazine.   On June 30, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they are amending the registration of this well-studied herbicide that allows farmers to do more with less. The new level of concern for atrazine will vastly reduce the herbicide's effectiveness, hindering farmers' ability to utilize this critical tool.   “Corn growers know the value of atrazine, and it is time again that we tell EPA the value of this product to our operations,” said Iowa Farmer and NCGA President Chris Edgington. “In 2016, we came together to submit 10,000 comments to the EPA, and we need that same momentum again.”   Comments can be submitted to EPA here, and advocates are encouraged to include information about how the proposed level of concern would impact their individual...

Jul 18, 2022

Key Issues: TradeProduction

Author: Bryan Goodman

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled today against imposing tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers imported from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. “This comes as a welcome relief,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Chris Edgington. “We have been sounding the alarms and telling the ITC commissioners that tariffs will drive up input prices to even more unaffordable levels for farmers and cripple our supply. I am so glad they listened.”   The decision comes after CF Industries filed a petition with ITC in late 2021, requesting that the commission place tariffs on urea ammonium nitrate, which is used in liquid fertilizers. Shortages and prices have since increased exponentially.   NCGA has come out strongly against the tariffs. It was the only commodities group that testified at ITC’s public hearing, and it forcefully raised the issue in the press. NCGA also engaged in an aggressive advocacy campaign with elected officials. ITC’s decision takes effect...

Jul 14, 2022

Key Issues: TradeFarm PolicyProduction

Author: Bryan Goodman

As farmers work to feed and fuel the world, filling the void left by the war in Ukraine, national corn grower leaders unanimously passed a sense of the Corn Congress today calling on President Biden to maintain grower access to crop inputs.   The vote came during the National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress meeting, which is being held this week in the nation’s capital.   The measure, which is included in its entirety below, notes that “the world is facing skyrocketing fuel prices and potentially devastating food shortages, both of which can be addressed in part by America’s corn farmers, and America’s corn farmers have demonstrated a commitment to environmental sustainability through decades of documented reductions in soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.”   It then asserts that “the ability to address the crises facing our world today in a sustainable manner cannot be achieved without fair access to the inputs necessary to raise a crop each year,...

Jul 5, 2022

Key Issues: Production

Author: Stacey Stiens

  NCGA has a new tool for growers: the Corn Rootworm Risk Tool. This calculator allows farmers to enter historical and current management data—along with corn rootworm intensity—to determine the potential risk of developing resistance to valuable Bt traits. By using the information submitted by the farmer or their technical advisor, the tool provides growers with a low-, medium-, or high-risk level and summarizes the appropriate best management practices for each scenario.    This predictive tool is a helpful resource—not a replacement—for proactive conversations with technical advisors on what practices and strategies to employ. The ultimate objective of the calculator is to suppress corn rootworm populations using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and to assist farmers in maintaining the effectiveness of important tools—like Bt corn—for generations to come.    Suppress insect pest populations and maintain the effectiveness of Bt products for future growing seasons! Visit