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A LOOK INSIDE: MARKET DEVELOPMENT The Importance of Ethanol Byproducts
FEATURE
Gaining a Global Mindset
EDUCATION
Educate, Inspire, Entertain: WOCO 2020
ICPB SPECIAL EDITION June 2020
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Gaining a Global Mindset
The Importance of Ethanol Byproducts A
s multiple Iowa ethanol plants were forced to close or reduce output because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many industries are seeing just how much they rely on ethanol byproducts. For example, livestock producers struggle to get access to dried distiller grains and solubles (DDGs). Like livestock producers, many industries are in a frenzy as other byproduct supply continues to deteriorate. The sudden lack of access to carbon dioxide (CO2), another product produced at ethanol plants, is also becoming an issue. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) estimates that U.S. ethanol plants produce roughly 40% of the national supply, capturing 3.5 million tons of CO2 annually. But during the pandemic, experts say CO2 production has been cut by 50% at times. The lack of CO2 has affected a wide range of industries, such as meats and construction, as well as the food and beverage industry. CO2 is a main component in processing, packaging, preserving, and shipping of many foods, and is used in the production of beverage products like beer and soda. Because of the shortage, many beer brewers have seen a 25% price increase by CO2 suppliers, resulting in local brewers announcing they may not reopen even if the state deems appropriate. With 34 of the 45 U.S. ethanol plants that sell CO2 currently idled or having completely cut production, the shortage seems to have no end in sight,
resulting in not only producers seeing an increase in production costs, but consumers seeing a slight rise in price and less products available in the market place. Because the shortage of CO2 has affected so many industries, a newly formed coalition wrote a letter to Vice President Mike Pence explaining the urgency of this shortage. “Representing thousands of American workers across all 50 states that ensure the reliability of our nation’s food supply, we write to express our strong concern that the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic creates a significant risk of a shortage in carbon dioxide (CO2) that would significantly impact access to essential food and beverage supplies and other essential sectors of the U.S. economy,” the coalition wrote. The coalition includes the Compressed Gas Association, National Pork Producers Council, Beer Institute, Brewers Association, National Turkey Federation, North American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Renewable Fuels Association. A CO2 shortage could also have big consequences for Iowa’s water quality as it is a key component for many of the state’s water treatment plants. Des Moines Water Works uses CO2 to soften the water by lowering its pH value. Although the water is still safe to drink without this component, it would be considered of lesser quality and remain “hard.” The city, along with others, began exploring other options like an acid-softening strategy. But this route would mean installing all new equipment, which is extremely costly and would require finding a supply of acid, a more dangerous component. That’s when Lincolnway Energy, located in Nevada, Iowa, stepped in to reopen its plant and resume producing ethanol, which would make CO2 available again. Other Iowa cities and companies benefited from the reopening of Lincolnway Energy, including the city of Ames, which was also struggling with softening water, and the Hormel Food plant in Nevada, Iowa, which was also in need of CO2 for refrigeration purposes. Iowa is the nation’s leader in ethanol production, using roughly 1.5 billion bushels of corn to produce 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol in 2019. We know it to be America’s most renewable fuel and Iowa farmers pride themselves on the fact ethanol reduces greenhouse emissions, decreases our dependence on foreign oil, creates American jobs and revitalizes our rural communities. But, as the pandemic has shown, ethanol plants are far more important than just producing a better fuel — they are vital for many industries’ bottom line.
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he The Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) believe the future of Iowa agriculture depends on developing new leaders who share a passion for advocating and progressing the industry and has made it a priority to provide Iowans an opportunity to do just that. By promoting the Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development (I-LEAD) program, both boards have a hand in helping agriculturists grow. I-LEAD is a two-year program for talented people who want to become strong leaders for Iowa agriculture and spokespeople for the industry. Once accepted into the program, the I-LEAD class meets about 10 times over the course of two years, receiving experience and training in the agricultural industry, such as leadership, effective communication, policy and global agriculture. The program includes an experience in Washington D.C., a domestic mission, an international mission and hands-on training for lobbying, media training and more.
As I-LEAD Class 9 nears the end of their two-year program, applications for I-LEAD Class 10 are now open until July 1, 2020. “I would recommend I-LEAD to others because it was an excellent program that gave me opportunities I never could have experienced on my own. Like multiple training sessions to develop communication and leadership skills. It also gave the chance to meet incredible professionals from around the state. Seeing how the political process works in depth has driven me to be more active within Iowa Corn Growers Association and politics in general,” said Ryan Steffensen, I-LEAD Class 9 member from Guthrie Center, Iowa. Platinum
Gold $5,000-$7,499
I-LEAD Class 8
Farm Credit Services of America
CHS Stewardship team
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
Beck's
Landus Cooperative
Bayer Crop Science (Former Monsanto)
Syngenta
Iowa Corn
Helena Agri Enterprises LLC.
Union Pacific
John Deere Financial
Bronze $1,000 - $2,499
Central Valley Ag
When deciding where to embark for their mission, the class considered the big impact of global trade disruption. There was much interest within the I-LEAD Class 9 to travel to markets critical to Iowa, such as Colombia, Peru and Panama. Both Colombia and Peru represent steady corn markets with opportunities for growth, and all these countries also demonstrate the importance of free trade agreements and illustrate how such agreements can facilitate important and steady partnerships. Read the team’s executive summary below.
Corteva
Wayne Humphreys
Reuter’s
Climate
Mycogen Seeds
Davis Brown Law Firm
JD Heiskell
Silver $2,500-$4,999
JRT Focus Farms Ltd.
Elanco (Eli Lilly & Co)
Agrivision
Heartland Coop
CoBank
ISU College of Ag and Life Sciences
“Latin American countries (excluding Mexico) consume nearly 25% of total U.S. corn exports. That is roughly $2.1 billion per year. If you add Mexico, total consumption equates to more than 54% of total U.S. corn exports. Peruvians are large consumers of poultry and eggs. They rely on U.S. corn to feed their growing demand for this affordable protein source. Their population is not concerned with consuming food containing GMOs — they are just concerned with getting access to food, period. Colombia is experiencing a massive growth in its middle class and is eager to grow with the U.S. Colombia not only presents an important export destination for Iowa corn, but the free trade agreement established between the U.S. and Colombia has facilitated a true trade partnership where value flows in both directions.”
INTL FCStone Financial
John Deere Ag Marketing Center
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association
Land O’Lakes
Latham
Elanco (Eli Lilly & Co)
Nutrien Ag Solutions
Heartland Coop
Calcium Products
ISU College of Ag and Life Sciences
Heartland Ag
John Deere Ag Marketing Center
Horizon Equipment
Land O’Lakes
Guthrie County Cattlemans
NEW Cooperative
FMC Corporation
Chem Gro of Houghton, Inc.
MATRIC
Fremont/Page Corn/Soybean Association
Ag Leader Technology
POET
K.C. Nielsen, LTD
Renewable Energy Group
I-LEAD Class 9 completed their international trade mission to Peru, Colombia and Panama. The international trade mission is an educational component of the I-LEAD program that challenges the team to determine a mission target and raise funds to cover core mission costs. During this mission, members learn about key markets and develop leadership skills as they experience a foreign market and appreciate the opportunities and challenges for global trade for Iowa farmers.
Many of the Class 9 members walked away from this experience with a stronger respect for the global economy. “Anything from weather in western Europe, export pricing in Argentina and flower producers in Colombia all affect how we trade U.S. corn and commodities,” explained Nick Helland, I-LEAD member from Huxley, Iowa. His fellow classmate Katie Pille from Stanhope, Iowa, also walked away with a better understanding of the worldwide market and how truly fortunate we are. “It was incredibly enlightening to hear from end users of our products and gain an understanding of how important those trade relationships are to our economy, their economy and the U.S. farmer,” she said.
For more information about I-LEAD visit iowacorn.org/about/ilead
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Educate, Inspire, Entertain: WOCO 2020
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he focus for educating consumers on corn and the farmers who grow it is a challenge as consumers get further and further away from the farm, and the myths and misconceptions that surround the agriculture industry have built up over the years. However, a new era of consumers wanting to know, see and better understand where their food comes from is growing. The pressure of finding work-life balance is a major stressor for women, especially moms. One of the factors of mom guilt is breaking through the fake news and wealth of misinformation to find the truth about farming and food. That’s where Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) comes in — to help provide the truth about agriculture, corn farming and making healthy choices not only on your plate, but also in the fuel you choose at the pump — as they are committed to providing education about corn and corn products.
ICPB invests check-off dollars in events such as the Iowa State Fair, Des Moines Farmers’ Market and other programs to meet consumers where they are with positive messages about their food and fuel. A new and never-before-done event, Iowa Women’s Conference (WOCO), was designed to bring together women of all backgrounds to educate, inspire and entertain. WOCO provided a great opportunity for Iowa Corn to be among 800 agricultureremoved females from Iowa. But as these women soon found out, just because they do not come from an ag background does not mean they should ignore agriculture. Many of these women find themselves at a grocery store weekly buying dinner for their families and filling up their vehicles to get from one activity to another. This gathering allowed Iowa Corn to specifically share insight on GMOs and ethanol education and highlight all sectors of agriculture in Iowa.
professional with American Lung Association, addressed the importance of outdoor and indoor air quality, and specifically, how ethanol blended fuel benefits lung health. In addition to inviting speakers to share priorities of corn and agriculture, Iowa Corn staff and farmers interacted with attendees at our booth by having them answer questions about corn and then awarding them with a “Corn Grows Iowa” tea towel. The sponsorship of WOCO 2020 was an idea to share insight from our farms and farmers with women influencers across the state, something we have already found great success in doing. looks forward to hosting food bloggers in our state through the Iowa Corn Fed Tour. The blogger project invites top food bloggers from around the country to visit our farms in Iowa and to share the farmers’ stories through their eyes and experiences. Both WOCO and the Iowa Corn Fed Tour have proven it’s important we reach beyond farmers and other agriculturists in order to share our farms and farming practices to grow respect for the industry and break through the misinformation and noise. Surveys have shown that farmers want ICPB to share their stories and build trust with consumers. WOCO 2020 met this goal; we will continue to look for opportunities to grow trust in corn farmers with the everyday consumer.
Iowa Corn invited Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Julie Kenney to address all attendees over lunch to highlight the importance of corn farmers and agriculture to our state. “I applaud Iowa Corn for their innovative thinking and their unique approach to reach Iowans. The first annual Iowa Women’s Conference was empowering and uplifting. The team at Iowa Corn did a great job of introducing agriculture into the conversation that was well received by everyone in attendance,” said Kenney. The conference also hosted two main speakers, including Randi Zuckerberg, whom Iowa Corn District Feld Manager Carrie Dodds had the pleasure of introducing, as well as 29 other females who spoke during different breakout sessions. Iowa Corn also invited breakout speakers Dr. Ruth MacDonald and Angela Tin who inserted ag topics into the conversation about balance, health and inspiration. Dr. MacDonald, professor and chair of the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, presented about science and safety of biotechnology in food. She also put to rest many misconceptions about GMOs and other food industry myths. Angela Tin, an environmental and regulatory compliance
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Iowa Corn | 5505 Northwest 88th Street | Johnston, Iowa 50131 | 515-225-9242 | iowacorn.org | corninfo@iowacorn.org
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