By BLAINE BAKER

Clayton, Mich. farmer

Corn Marketing Program of Michigan

Each fall, harvest becomes the sole focus of corn farmers across the state. In my role as a farmer, it feels good to finally have the corn out of the field. In my role as a board member of the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM), I’m focused on making sure we have strong markets for our corn and working to grow stronger markets in the future is a big task.

CMPM recently completed a market outlook study on the future of the corn industry in Michigan. The study found that exports of corn, ethanol, DDGs and meats are areas where attention is needed.

One challenge we face is increased global competition. Historically, the U.S. made up 80 percent of the global corn market, but with more competitors entering the market, that share had dropped to 30 percent. The outlook found that ethanol is the best opportunity for increasing corn exports in the near future.

The U.S. has some advantages in this area over foreign competitors because the Renewable Fuel Standards built a strong domestic ethanol industry, giving us the processing infrastructure and know-how to take advantage of these opportunities. Michigan also has advantages because we share a border with Canada, a major importer of ethanol, and the Port of Detroit exports more than 100 million gallons of ethanol each year.

CMPM is investing your checkoff dollars to seize these opportunities. Through our partnership with the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), we are expanding ethanol markets with our existing trade partners.

USGC arranges trade teams of foreign buyers to visit U.S. suppliers. They help educate policymakers in other countries about how to use ethanol, and the advantages for cleaning up air quality, and they educate foreign industry leaders on how to feed DDGs to livestock.

We also face challenges because meat production is becoming much more efficient. Since 1990, the efficiency per animal in terms of how much meat can be produced per bushel of corn increased by 42 percent. That means that we risk losing ground unless we aggressively promote the export of U.S. meat products.

CMPM is also investing your checkoff dollars in this goal through the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

USMEF works to create new opportunities and develop existing international markets for U.S. beef, pork, lamb and veal. They do this through trade teams, education and relationship building activities that boost demand for U.S. meats.

Organizations like the CMPM are critical to the future of our industry because they ensure that someone is working on your behalf to defend existing markets and seeking out new and emerging markets for your corn. An investment in your checkoff is ultimately an investment in your future markets.

To my fellow farmers: If you have any questions about the work of CMPM, I’m happy to talk with you about it. Please don’t hesitate to call the Michigan Corn office at 517-668-2676.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Blaine Baker is a board member of the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan.