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NCGA responds to Ag Innovation Agenda

The National Corn Growers Association has responded to USDA’s request for stakeholder input on its Ag Innovation Agenda.

Robyn Allscheid, director of research and productivity, says NCGA surveyed corn growers and identified three main concerns.

“As we collected data, basically everything boiled down to one main priority: making sure growers stay profitable moving forward, so we heard a lot about how our growers are interested in taking advantage of investments in conservation practices both in terms of what they do for the environment and economically,” she says. “Growers are also concerned about increasing pressures they’ll will face from bugs and weeds to droughts and floods.”

The USDA’s goal is to increase ag production by 40 percent to meet the needs of a growing global population while cutting the environmental footprint of US ag in half.

Allsheid tells Brownfield USDA recognizes the work farmers are already doing and requested feedback on policy and regulatory issues that slow adoption of conservation practices.

“If there’s government policies or programs that can provide that last push to get it out to the growers that would be great whether its effective demonstrations or financial incentives,” she says.

She says the goals are ambitious but achievable and align with what corn growers are already doing by maximizing productivity and minimizing environmental impact.

NCGA received more than 500 responses to the survey as well as participation by corn industry stakeholders and environmental organizations.

Input from the agricultural and scientific community will help inform research goals with the intent of aligning applications and technologies to address the goals of the Ag Innovation Agenda for the next 10-30 years.

Audio: Robyn Allscheid