WASHINGTON, July 23, 2007 – The American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) has notified U.S. Representative Ron Kind, D-Wisc., that the organization will not support his alternative farm bill initiative.

In a letter to Kind, ACGA commended the initiative and leadership exhibited by the Congressman for his work on the farm policy debate this year but stated, “While we find several provisions in the Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007 (FARM 21) positive, we cannot support the initiative.” 

The corn and soybean fields of my home state of Illinois are a sight many residents are familiar with. Without constant care, attention, a little luck, these fields could easily be removed from the rural landscape. Threats to the crop can come from all sides: from below with pest infestation, from above with lack of rain, and even from agents beyond our control. Farmers and researchers continually adapt to find ways of combating these threats. Using tools such as integrated pest management, modern growing techniques, and more efficient machinery, we have been successful in almost every situation we have encountered where production is concerned.

It was the best of intentions by the state of Illinois. That was why Meadowbrook Farms of Rantoul was given $1.6 million of taxpayer grants by we the people.

Meadowbrook Farms is a modern hog processing plant that was built and went online in January 2004. In December 1998, live hog prices plummeted to 8 cents per pound or $20 per hog, and many hog farmers were losing almost $100 per hog marketed. That year Smithfield, Cargill (Excel), I.B.P. (now Tyson), made massive amounts of profits from this predatory annihilation of family hog farmers.

(Stoughton, WI – June 26, 2007) – More than 30 groups representing farmers and localities sent a letter (view) to the Leadership and Members of the House Agriculture Committee, expressing grave concerns regarding Section 123, a provision approved without discussion by the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee in the draft 2007 Farm Bill. The groups asked that Section 123 be withdrawn when the full Committee votes on a Farm Bill later in July.

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2007 – American Corn Growers Association President Keith Bolin, a corn and livestock producer in Bureau County, Ill., praised last week’s passage of sweeping energy legislation by the U.S. Senate.

“ACGA is very impressed with the leadership and initiative exhibited by Senator Bingaman who is the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the committee’s Ranking Minority Member Domenici and every one of the 65 U.S. Senators that voted for passage of the bill last week,” said Bolin.  “It was just a few short months ago when Chairman Bingaman invited ACGA to participate in his first hearing on the bill in Washington, and now his committee and the Senate have completed action on the measure.”

Dear Ambassador Schwab:

We noticed that the G4 talks in the Doha broke down once again last week.  As international trade talks resume in the near or distant future, it’s our hope you will address a problem that is of serious concern to America’s corn growers and producers.

One of our primary concerns in the way in which the U.S. continues to allow agricultural super-powers—such as China, India, Brazil and Argentina—to hide behind the self-decelerated and inaccurate... 

From the looks of the editorial sections of many of the major newspapers, it appears evident that for the first time in memory, there is both a farm bill and an energy bill pending in Congress because we corn farmers are under attack for higher food prices and for having the audacity to provide an alternative to imported, blood-soaked, petroleum for motor fuel.  Big Oil and Big Food feel a need to use forums such as the Washington Post as a platform to tell us that it is the family corn farmer that is the crux of all evil in the world and everything would be much better if there were no farm bill or energy bill...

LOS ANGELES, June 3, 2007--- The American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) and the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA), through their Wealth From The Wind (WFTW) program, are major sponsors of WINDPOWER 2007 June 3-6 in Los Angeles, CA. WINDPOWER 2007 is expected to be the largest wind energy conference and trade show ever held in North America with as many as six thousand representatives of the wind industry, government and advocacy organizations participating in the activities.

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2007—The American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) surveyed 1,057 grain elevators during April 2007 in the eighteen (18) states that produce the majority of U. S. grain.  “Only 26% of the elevators surveyed report that they require the segregation of GMO (genetically modified) varieties from Non-GMO varieties. This finding raises concerns about the ability of the U.S. to hold on to the critical corn gluten export market that is so important to the future health of our ethanol sector,” reports Dan McGuire, Director of the ACGF Farmer Choice-Customer First program.

With an ongoing food safety crisis involving everything from the recall of melamine-infused pet food to the quarantine of contaminated livestock to the tainting of frozen catfish fillets, glaring inadequacies are being found in America’s import and food system – inadequacies that are putting the health of consumers, the safety of the American food system and the vitality of America’s heartland at risk.