December 11, 2006

 

Corn in US state Iowa seen sufficient to meet demand

 

 

Corn growers proclaimed Friday (Dec 8) that there will be enough of the grain produced in future years to meet the state's food production and growing ethanol demands.

 

Kyle Phillips, chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, said new corn hybrids that increase yields by at least 2.5 percent each year will be a key factor in producing enough corn.

 

"From what I've experienced on my own farm, that's a pretty conservative estimate," he said. "For the last five years, yields have just rocketed up."

 

Farmers are expected to switch more fields from soybeans to corn, and additional acres will be taken from the federal government's Conservation Reserve Programme for corn production, Phillips said.

 

He and other corn board and Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) officials spoke with reporters Friday during a teleconference titled "Will We Have Enough Corn in Iowa?"

 

Critics have said the state won't be able to produce enough corn, and will eventually become a corn importer.

 

However, Brian Jones, an ICGA research and business development manager, said with the transition of soybean acres to corn acres, and yield increases, "it's quite possible that just that additional and incremental yield (increase) that we see year-to-year is enough to meet a fairly robust ethanol demand increase."

 

Craig Floss, chief executive of the corn growers and corn promotion board, said farmers will have time to boost production because many proposed ethanol plants are facing construction pressures.

 

"We don't think that the demand is going to increase as significantly as what some are suggesting. That will actually allow us, with yield increases, acreage shifts, etc, to continue to ramp up to meet the demand when those plants do come on line in the future," he said.

 

Although producers seem confident in growing plenty of corn, there is some concern in the industry whether there is enough storage and the right sorts of transportation routes to keep up with demand.

 

Floss said corn growers will lobby lawmakers and encourage the industry to come together to invest in upgrades in grain-handling and storage, improve transportation on the Mississippi River and expand rail and truck routes.

 

"Quite frankly, we're not as far along in that area as we need to be," he said.

 

Concerns have been voiced by livestock producers about what rising corn prices and ethanol production will do to the availability of livestock feed, and whether or not the by-products of ethanol production, or distillers grains, are an appropriate source of feed.

 

Phillips argued that distillers grains are both economical and nutritious.

 

"A third of the feed value of corn will remain after the conversion of the corn to ethanol," Phillips said. "That is a high-quality, high-protein, high-fat feed that works well in many rations."

 

Despite such issues, Bob Bowman, president of the ICGA and a corn grower from DeWitt, said Iowa corn growers "have a track record over and over again of meeting the demand, and I don't see that as being any problem here".