Like planting, stories in this magazine are full of hope for the future

Hello again from our farm near Frankfort. We are excited about putting another crop in the ground this spring. For those of us who’ve done it more than once, there’s something familiar about this time of year. The things we see and feel remind us of the reasons that farmers turn the soil year after year.

The Indiana Corn and Soybean Post is a magazine by farmers and for farmers, and this issue includes many things that are familiar to us all. But it also includes some new and exciting information about creating more value for our crop.

As you could see on the cover, the feature story in this issue is about Dubois County farmer J.R. Roesner. I’ve gotten to know J.R. pretty well during the past few years as we’ve worked together on the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). He is among a group of good, young farmers who are ready to step into leadership roles.

J.R. is passionate about promoting ethanol. On his farm, J.R.’s corn crop is split between food-grade corn and ethanol production. So for J.R., expanding opportunities for ethanol production is as important for him as it is for many Hoosier corn growers. This is why he’s a member of the NCGA’s Ethanol Action Team, and it’s why he’s volunteered to testify before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other groups in support of the corn-based renewable fuel.

Indiana is home to 14 ethanol-processing plants, and it is a vital consumer of our corn crop. The work done by NCGA, ICMC and the Indiana Corn Growers Association is crucial to ethanol’s future, and we’re glad to have dedicated farmers like J.R. to be a leader in those efforts.

Also in this magazine are details about NCGA’s plans to encourage new uses made from field corn. Consider Corn Challenge III is the third round of a contest that seeks participants to submit proposals for new uses for field corn as a feedstock for producing sustainable chemicals and products with significant market demand.

Corn is an affordable, abundant, sustainably grown crop that has many uses. In many cases, using corn to replace petroleum in plastic products is more environmentally friendly while creating a new market for American-grown corn. Contests like this from the NCGA help move these ideas from the visionary stage to the retail shelf as quickly as possible.

Take some time; read through these stories and consider the possibilities of the future.

Maggie Daily joins the team

We just hired a new team member to help with our market development and value creation efforts. Join me in welcoming Maggie Daily, who is the new Market Development and Value Creation Project Manager for the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, the Indiana Corn Growers Association and ISA. Maggie will assist Helena Jette with the biofuels programs and Julie Ohmen with the new uses and value creation programs.

Maggie graduated from Purdue University, majoring in Agribusiness and Marketing. After graduation, Maggie worked at the Indiana Beef Cattle Association and Indiana Beef Council. There she led the Education and Industry Relations outreach for more than five years. Her family farms corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, popcorn and raises show hogs.