January 6, 2024

IN THIS ISSUE

2023 CCPC Winter Roundup Tentative Schedule, Registration Available
Bonus Congressional Management Foundation Webinar: Advocacy with Congress in a Post-Pandemic World
NCGA Expresses Relief Over Rail Crossing Re-Opening, Emphasizes Need to Avoid Similar Situations in Future
National Corn Yield Contest 2023 Winners Announced
Scholarship Program Empowers Future Ag Leaders
Pesticide Applicator Continuing Education
New Web Pages Highlight Corn, Sorghum, Barley Sustainability Efforts

2023 CCPC Winter Roundup Tentative Schedule, Registration Available

We are so excited to bring to our producers our first annual Winter Roundup, to be held right before the Greeley Farm Show! This one-day get-together will feature wonderful speakers, discussion panels, a reception and an awards banquet.

Join us on January 22, 2024 at 10am!

Tentative schedule includes:

NCGA Farm Bill Update,
Weather Forecast Presentation
Market Update
Pesticide Update
Research Update
Future of Ag and Sustainability Panel
Reception
Awards Banquet

Bonus Congressional Management Foundation Webinar:

Advocacy with Congress in a Post-Pandemic World

We’ve heard this a million times: the pandemic changed everything. Yet, how did remote work, virtual meetings, and the pandemic change advocacy with Congress? The Congressional Management Foundation will reveal our latest congressional staff survey at this bonus webinar presented on January 22, 2024 at 12 pm MST, exclusively for subscribing Partners to CMF’s Partnership for a More Perfect Union. While anyone in your organization can attend, this presentation is geared towards advocacy professionals. In late 2023, CMF conducted a new survey of congressional staff working in the policy and communications arenas. We explored:

Do congressional staff prefer virtual to in-person meetings with constituents?
What are congressional staff logistical preferences for virtual meetings (eg., number of participants, platform/software used, advance notice/request for meeting)?
What constituent strategies work best in virtual meetings, compared to in-person meetings?

Additionally, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of CMF conducting surveys of congressional staff on citizen engagement, and we also collected data in the last survey on questions we’ve posed for two decades.

Please join the presenter, Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of CMF to hear how advocacy has changed, and how it has not, as a result of the pandemic.

NCGA Expresses Relief Over Rail Crossing Re-Opening, Emphasizes Need to Avoid Similar Situations in Future

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on December 22 that it will reopen the Eagle Pass and El Paso rail crossings into Mexico. The announcement pleased leaders at the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), who cautioned the agency against making similar decisions in the future.

“This is certainly a welcome relief,” said NCGA President Harold Wolle. “We are very appreciative that CBP was responsive to our calls to have the border crossings re-opened, but we hope this experience serves as a cautionary tale moving forward. Rail is a key mode of transportation for our exports into Mexico, so closing rail crossings can have devastating ramifications for farmers and the economy.”

The two rail crossings along the Texas border towns were closed on December 18 by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection as part of an effort to prevent migrants from entering the country illegally. Twenty-five percent of U.S. corn exports into Mexico go through El Paso and Eagle Pass.

On Thursday, the National Corn Growers Association joined other national ag groups in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling for him to quickly reopen the rail crossings.

National Corn Yield Contest 2023 Winners Announced

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is excited to announce the winners of the 2023 National Corn Yield Contest. This group of farmers put up some impressive yields and proved, once again, the ingenuity and resiliency of the U.S. farmer.

In its 59th year, the National Corn Yield Contest saw nearly 7,000 entries from farmers in 46 states. Entrants across the 10 production categories, including the pilot category for nitrogen management, Class J, had verified yields averaging 269 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 173 bushels per acre. This includes a new national record yield of 623.8439 bushels per acre from David Hula in Charles City, VA, besting the previous record of 616.1953 bushels per acre.

Scholarship Program Empowers Future Ag Leaders

The National Corn Growers Association is thrilled to announce the launch of its annual scholarship program for the 2024 academic year. This program is designed to support students who are passionate about agriculture and making a positive impact in their community.

To apply for the scholarship, students must complete an online application. Submissions are now being accepted, and the deadline to complete is January 31, 2024.

All eligible students are encouraged to apply for this exciting opportunity. For more information and to apply, please visit our website at NCGA.com/scholarships.

Pesticide Applicator Continuing Education

Mountain West Pesticide Education & Safety Training (PEST) is happy to announce pesticide applicator recertification workshops around Colorado this upcoming training season. All of these workshops provide ALL seven required core credits. The workshops are open to both private and commercial applicators as well as applicator technicians. If you are a commercial applicator and need category credits, please contact MWPEST.

Workshops are posted at http://www.mountainwestpest.com/continuing-education.html

New Web Pages Highlight Corn, Sorghum, Barley Sustainability Efforts

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has released four new web pages focused on the organization’s sustainability efforts. The web pages provide information and resources on the practices and technologies that contribute to the sustainability of U.S. farms and agribusinesses.

The pages showcase the Council’s commitment to global climate efforts and how it is working with its members and international stakeholders to address sustainability challenges in the food, feed, fuel and fiber international supply chains in which the products it represents participate.

“The Council is in a unique position to help barley, corn and sorghum farmers showcase their journey in adopting sustainable production practices and align with international supply chain requirements related to sustainability. These pages provide an entry point into that journey,” said Carlos Suarez, USGC manager of sustainability, policy and innovation.

See the new web page for corn

UPCOMING DEADLINES

NCGA Scholarship Applications Due - Jan. 31, 2024

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 22: CCPC Winter Roundup
January 23-24: Colorado Farm Show

Who is the Colorado Corn Council?

The Colorado Corn Promotion Council (CCPC) oversees how Colorado's corn check-off dollars (one penny per bushel of grain corn produced in Colorado) are invested in research, market development, outreach and other various endeavors.

Learn more about the work of our organization at www.coloradocorn.com.

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