This past week, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board (IL Corn) partnered with the U.S. Grains Council and Marquis Energy to host a trade team of distiller dried grain (DDGS) buyers from Turkey for a plant tour and farm visit. The honored visitors from Turkey were interested in learning the latest on U.S. corn supplies and quality expectations for 2021-22 crop. The Turkish feed industry is the 6th largest importer of U.S. DDGS , and is a growing market for feed products. Illinois produces about 3 million metric tons of DDGS and exports over 2 million metric tons annually. IL Corn joined their long visit on Thursday, Oct. 21st in Hennepin, Illinois at Marquis Energy to learn more about their strategic placement on theRiver which allows them a competitive advantage to sell U.S. ethanol into the global market and about their new technology developed in-house to boost the DDGS quality.
The Illinois Corn Marketing Board is proud to partner with the Waterways Council Inc, Illinois Soybean Association, and others to help audiences understand the importance of inland waterways and efficient infrastructure. A new 30-second TV commercial is currently running in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, as well as a coordinated social media campaign with graphics and shorter, 15-second videos that describe environmental, economic, and quality of life themes about our waterways.
We are happy to announce and welcome our new Marketing & Communications Manager to IL Corn, Tara Desmond. Tara was born in Central Illinois and has spent all of her life in Illinois. She spent her college years in Southern Illinois at SIUC graduating with a Bachelors in Advertising, Integrated Marketing Communications in 2005. Tara brings 16 years of marketing, communications, graphic design and project management experience to IL Corn. She is known for being innovative, passionate, agile and an advocate for non-profits in the community. Prior to working at IL Corn, Tara has worked in a mixture of roles for large, medium and small companies marketing different products/services including insurance, restaurants, financial products, cleaning, real estate, landscaping and construction.
Mark and Cristin Wilson welcomed a video crew to their farm to see corn harvest in action. IL Corn staff and our partners at the US Grains Council and Illinois Pork Producers will use these videos to tell the farmer’s story to a broad audience of customers. Customers targeted will be from both in-state and overseas. Travel restrictions continue to severely limit our ability to host foreign trade missions in Illinois, so we’re investing in high quality videos that we’ll use to supplement “virtual trade teams”, which are becoming an important tool to reach buyers around the world. Illinois is the top origin for corn exports from the US, so it’s critical that we share our farmers’ perspectives on issues like sustainability, crop quality, and farm economics with customers wherever they might be.
Unpacking the proposed $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation legislative package reveals optimism. The Illinois Corn Growers Association (IL Corn) is appreciative of the commitment to biofuel infrastructure and new conservation investments outlined in the current draft policy. A concern all along has been how these programs would be paid for and we are happy to hear the House Ways and Means Committee plans to preserve stepped-up basis. We will oppose any changes to the current estate tax exemption and continue to watch for any new amendments that will negatively affect family farm succession. Illinois family farmers rely on tools like stepped-up basis and estate tax exemptions in their succession plans and we will continue to advocate for such provisions. IL Corn is very supportive of expanding fueling capabilities and infrastructure for higher blends of ethanol. Infrastructure is critical as we move to higher blends of ethanol such as E-15 and to eventually E-25 and E-30 to fully realize the significant carbon reductions and clean air benefits that a high octane/high ethanol blend can provide. Biofuels should remain a key component of climate smart ag initiatives looking to offer a clean and renewable energy source. Achieving the goals of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and improving sustainability across all Illinois farms is high priority and a new conservation program is something to be excited about. Streamlining a program through FSA will offer a simple approach to generating a response that can drive adoption at a scale needed to truly achieve our nutrient loss goals. It’s time to think outside of the box and look beyond investing in existing programs if we want to see a level of conservation adoption surpass the current rate. A unique challenge remains to be the high percent of land owned by non-operating landowners and we are pleased to see this new program starting to address this barrier. Giving farmers the resources to transition their management practices to a more stewardship focused system, such as utilizing cover crops, makes good environmental and economic sense. IL Corn is committed to helping deploy climate smart ag practices on all acres across Illinois. Practices like cover crops, reduced tillage, and more efficient nutrient management practices are some of the key areas being invested in. Precision Conservation Management is a program developed by IL Corn looking at the economic returns of such investments and management changes, which needs to be a part of all climate smart ag conversations. Illinois Corn Growers President, Randy DeSutter said “while we still have to ensure protections are in place to allow family farms to transition without penalty, we are excited to see new investment in conservation programs outside of the Farm Bill. We want to thank Senator Stabenow for her commitment to this effort and standing strong in ensuring these programs made it into the current draft language.”
