Ag News, Wednesday July 22, 2015

NCGA: Corn Farmers Committed to Ethanol Infrastructure

The National Corn Growers Association has announced the investment of an additional $500,000 to an innovative program called Prime the Pump. The program seeks to expand fueling infrastructure capable of delivering higher blends of ethanol fuel to American consumers. This increases the NCGA commitment to $2 million in the last year. NCGA is using the investment as a step to toward providing the public with lower gas prices and more fuel choice including better access to higher blends ethanol. Prime the Pump will use the funds pledged by corn farmers as matching funds to secure grants under the recently announced program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA's Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership is making $100 million in grants available.

NFU Submits Organic Checkoff Supplemental Proposal

In submitted comments by the National Farmers Union, the organization says the proposal of an organic commodity checkoff addresses shortfalls in agriculture research and producer representation. NFU submitted its comments on Monday, supporting an organic commodity checkoff proposal. The proposal provides for a majority of checkoff funds to go toward agricultural research, a producer majority on the board, and an inclusive checkoff that allows all organic producers the ability to vote in any referendum establishing the checkoff. NFU’s proposal notes that the organic sector has had scarce resources available for organic research. It calls for 60 percent of checkoff funds to go towards agricultural research that will provide organic producers in the U.S. the information they need to keep up with the increasing demand for organic food in the U.S.

Custom Harvesters Partner with National Ag in the Classroom

TU.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. announced a partnership with National Ag in the Classroom to expand its agricultural education outreach on Tuesday. Ag in the Classroom is an organization dedicated to increasing agricultural literacy among PreK-12th grade students and their teachers. Custom Harvesters is supporting the development of two education curriculum lessons accompanied with related-video companion pieces from the recent wheat harvest documentary that was sponsored by Custom Harvesters. The lessons will debut at the 2016 AITC National Convention in Phoenix and made accessible to K-12 teachers around the country on the AITC National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix Website.

Source:  NAFB News