From staff reports KANSAS CITY, Mo. – National Corn Growers Association CEO Neil Caskey recently discussed the 2024 corn harvest, the Farm Bill, tax cuts, and more.
While speaking at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention last month, Caskey said he predicts “another really big crop.”
“Now, the job at hand is to find markets for all of that corn,” he said. “That is what we are committed to at the National Corn Growers Association.”
Corn producers have recently experiencing high operational costs: seed, fertilizer, machinery, fuel and labor, while selling the corn for lower prices. Given the financial strain this has put on corn farmers, Caskey hopes to see Congress establish an economic crisis relief fund and pass an adequate Farm Bill.
NCGA is advocating for a few issues to be addressed in the Farm Bill, Caskey said.
“Our biggest priority is crop insurance. We want to improve Title I. We would love to see a greater investment in foreign market development programs for farmers and voluntary conservation initiatives. We will be working with the new Congress and administration to get all of that enacted.”
Title I refers to a section of the Farm Bill designed to help stabilize farm income and protect farmers against price fluctuations. Its components include price loss coverage, agricultural risk coverage and marketing assistance loans.
Clean Fuel Production Caskey said he believes the corn industry should focus on growth.
“For us, that starts with passage of a yearround ethanol-15 that will begin to grind more corn as we are producing more,” he said. “And we need other legislative initiatives that will allow us to sell higher blends as well. That is how we are going to be dealing with the tough markets of today.”
Caskey added that the Trump administration provided for yearround E-15 during his first term in office.
“He has been supportive of biofuels, specifically ethanol, so we look forward to working with him and his administration to continue a lot of the good work that he did in his first term. We are very encouraged by what we will be able to do together.”
45-Z, one of the tax credits of discussion, will help make sustainable aviation fuel more competitively at the price points. Sustainable aviation fuel can be derived from ethanol or soy so the tax credit will help more than corn growers.
“We are very bullish on sustainable aviation fuel as a market opportunity, whether it is 45-Z or something else that will allow farmers to take advantage of that market opportunity, we are all for it,” Caskey said.