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ACGA to develop Institute for Public PolicyKeith Dittrich, chairman of the board of the American Corn Growers Association, announced plans for the development of the American Corn Growers Institute for Public Policy. "We are pleased to launch this new effort on behalf of the board of the American Corn Growers Association who have worked so diligently and, I must say, successfully over the past 25 years," stated Dittrich. "When we began, we farmers were facing rock bottom commodity prices and the economics of farming had never been much worse. Today a new light has been shed on agriculture and we are seeing a virtual renaissance taking place in the last several years. This has not come about by simple changes in market dynamics, but also because of hard fought battles and visionary leadership by many, including that of ACGA." Successes such as the Renewable Fuels Standard has its roots in ACGA and South Dakota board members, and the Conservation Stewardship Program with ties to early board members in Iowa, are major industry accomplishments. Other successes are a now robust biofuels industry that ACGA promoted from its earliest days and ACGA led farm policy initiatives that changed the course of national legislation. ACGA has seen decided victories in trade policy, overseen key white papers on the need for a better understanding of farm policy and developed all with a small and agile force of dedicated individuals. "Like it or not, the fact is corn is the largest volume food crop in the world and the best solar energy converter we have developed. It is a key raw material for many food products and has also become key to the production of biofuels. Any farm, trade, energy or environmental policy must consider the effect that policy will have on this food and energy product. Conversely, changes in the production of this commodity can have dramatic effects on the environment, cultures, society and the health in general of humans," Dittrich stated. Started on the West Plains of Texas in 1987 by the late Carl King, the late John Ford and longtime progressive policy analyst and advocate David Senter, the organization has always stood up for the interests of people that farm the land. Inclusion of other groups and interests has been the culture and goal of ACGA over the years. That policy of inclusion has drawn many respected stakeholders and academia to the organization over the years. The ACGA Institute for Public Policy will continue that tradition by recruiting a long and diverse list of advisory board members. For additional information on this and other issues visit www.acga.org.
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