Intern perspective on Corn Congress

By Kyle McGinn, NCGA-DC Intern 

Greetings! If it’s July, then it must be time for Corn Congress! This past week marked the annual ‘Corn Congress’ event in Washington, D.C., which is a national gathering of corn grower-leaders from across the country. Representatives from 28 states were in attendance. The Nebraska contingent consisted of Corn Board Members, Corn Board Staff, and Nebraska Lead Participants. I greatly enjoyed meeting those members of the Board who I had not yet had the opportunity to meet. Casey Campbell, the Nebraska Corn Board Intern at the National Corn Growers Association office in St. Louis had the opportunity to join us in D.C. as well; it was wonderful sharing stories and experiences with her.

During the beginning part of the week, the NCGA Committees held smaller breakout sessions. I participated in the Production and Stewardship Action Team (PSAT) meetings. The PSAT meetings focused on issues of sustainability. One of the most interesting sessions featured Rob Kaplan, Senior Manager of Sustainability at Walmart. Walmart is quite interested in pursuing sustainability initiatives throughout their supply chain, which obviously includes American corn producers. I believe it will be important for corn producers to engage themselves in conversations concerning sustainability initiatives, to ensure that they will indeed promote continuous growth while also observing producers interests.

One of the most important events of the week was the Corn Board elections. The Corn Board provides leadership for the National Corn Growers Association. Jon Holzfaster, a member of the Nebraska Corn Board and a corn grower from Paxton, successfully sought reelection.

Secretary Tom Vilsack of the United States Department of Agriculture also made an appearance, in order to receive the President’s Award from NCGA President Pam Johnson. Mr. Vilsack implored the growers in attendance to send a strong message to their representatives in Congress, that they deserve a viable Farm Bill and other needed legislative programs.

Later in the week, I accompanied the Nebraska Corn Board to meetings with the Nebraska Congressional delegation, which were quite interesting. I also assisted the NCGA staff in setting meetings between Midwestern growers and Congressional members who hail from outside the Corn Belt. Nebraska Corn Board Member Dennis Gengenbach was one of the participants in this outreach effort, and had high praise for the meetings. I believe this was an important part of a larger outreach effort that agricultural producers have undertaken, to educate policymakers and consumers about corn production and recent notable successes and advancements.

As Washington heats up in the later summer months, it has certainly been nice to escape onto the water a little bit! In my fleeting free time, I have had the chance to venture out to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to go tubing on the Shenandoah River. I also had the chance to accompany a few NCGA staff and growers on a kayaking tour of the monuments, on the Potomac River.