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Nebraska corn producers stand with senators in fight against ethanol smear campaignNebraska The Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Corn Growers Association appreciate that a bipartisan group of senators have spoken out against the misinformation campaign that targets corn producers and the corn ethanol industry as being behind a rise in food prices. A group of six Republican and Democrat senators came together May 22 in Washington, D.C., to help set the record straight on the benefits of biofuels and to combat an ethanol smear campaign being conducted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and some of its surrogates. "I'm not sure when it happened or why it happened, but it's incredible to me that someone decided to add ethanol to the members of the axis of evil," Nebraska Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said at the news conference. "They ignore the fact that the cost of oil has far more triggered the cost of products and living in the U.S. than the grinding of corn into ethanol." The group of senators, organized by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, addressed many of the issues raised by ethanol critics when it comes to the biofuel's contribution to food costs. "It's a smear campaign based on ignorance," Grassley said. "My question to the Grocery Manufacturers Association is: 'Do you want America to place its trust in OPEC or in U.S. farmers?' The short-sighted, self-serving campaign of this trade association and its allies is at America's expense." The Nebraska Corn Board and NeCGA applaud the senators for bringing to light the campaign and helping to show that the high price of oil and energy should be the real target of the Grocery Manufacturers and others who have joined in their misinformation campaign. "Study after study has demonstrated that high fuel and energy prices are a major factor in higher food prices. If you take away ethanol, fuel prices will increase even more and food prices will follow," said Jon Holzfaster, a corn and cattle producer from Paxton and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. "That is one of the important points the senators made, and we couldn't agree more." Randy Uhrmacher, president of NeCGA and a corn producer from Juniata, said that attempts to mislead the American public are unfortunate because they create turmoil in a food supply system that provides the safest and cheapest food in the world. "Food companies and farmers would be better off working together to find solutions to the real cause of higher food prices--our reliance on oil," he said. Uhrmacher and Holzfaster said that now is not the time to shy away from renewable fuels like corn ethanol, especially since ethanol is saving consumers at least 15 percent at the pump, which translates to about $70 billion per year nationwide. NeCGA and the Corn Board said they will continue providing the facts about food and fuel on their Internet sites, www.NebraskaCorn.org and www.NeCGA.org, and in other communication efforts. "We also encourage farmers to help set the record straight by contacting those behind this misinformation campaign and urge them to work with us in the real fight--the fight against high energy costs," Holzfaster said. In addition to Nelson and Grassley, Sens. Kit Bond (R-MO), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), John Thune (R-SD), and Ken Salazar (D-CO) attended the news conference in Washington. The Nebraska Corn Board is a self-help program, funded and managed by Nebraska corn farmers. Producers invest in the program at a rate of 1/4 of a cent per bushel of corn sold. Nebraska corn checkoff funds are invested in programs of market development, research and education. NeCGA is a grassroots commodity organization that works to enhance the profitability of corn producers. Now in its 36th year of service to its members, NeCGA has more than 1,800 dues paying members in Nebraska. NeCGA is affiliated with the NCGA, which has more than 31,000 dues paying members nationwide. 6/2/08 Date: 6/13/08
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