Interview with Stacia Cudd, News Director for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting - October 23, 2008
GROWERS NEED A MARKET FOR ADDITIONAL CORN PRODUCED, ETHANOL INCENTIVES KEY
Audio provided as a service to farm broadcasters by the National Corn Growers Association.
Audio with Ken McCauley, Past Chairman of the National Corn Growers Association.
National Corn Growers Association Past Chairman Ken McCauley says the nation’s corn growers are producing more corn per acre. He notes growers harvested more than 13-billion bushels of corn last year from roughly the same acreage planted more than 60 years ago that yielded just 2.8-billion bushels...
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And that’s being accomplished - McCauley says - more efficiently. He says growers aren’t using as much Nitrogen, phosphate, potash or pesticides and herbicides. Moving forward - he says growers will produce even more - pointing out that some are already seeing yields of more than 300-bushels to the acre. In fact - McCauley says the average yield of last year’s Yield Contest winners was just under 300-bushels per acre. That equals more ethanol per acre too.
According to McCauley - one acre of corn yielding just over 151-bushels would yield 435-gallons of ethanol. But he says growers need a market for all that corn and subsequently ethanol - which is why government incentives like the blender’s credit - the import tariff - and the Renewable Fuels Standard are all so important...
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Given that the rise in food prices is a main reason some have called for an end to government support - McCauley says there’s plenty of evidence to suggest these incentives should remain...
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McCauley was a presenter at the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City’s Food and Fuel Forum.
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