MARION, Ohio —  Ohio Corn Growers Assoc. (OCGA) board members had several issues on their agenda during a trip to Washington, D.C., President Mark Drewes said.<br>

“The farm bill is a hot topic,” he said. “Fertilizer issues are at the top of every farmer’s complaint list this year; also the climate legislation, which is kind of a new topic to all of us.”<br>

After a visit with representatives of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), Drewes said he was concerned about the availability of fertilizer for the late 2008 and early 2009 growing season. Demand is a big issue in fertilizer cost increases, the group learned during its visit.
“China and India have taken so much of the surplus fertilizer in this world that they have become real competitors of ours,” Drewes said. “They’ve got the money to pay for it and that has driven our prices way up.”<br>

Supply is another big issue, Drewes said. No new potash or phosphorous mines or nitrogen-producing facilities are being started in North America because of environmental impacts. That means increasing reliance on foreign countries for new supplies.
“When you’re dealing with foreign supply, it is a little dicier,” Drewes said.  “Transportation costs are greater, our dollar has become cheaper and when we’re buying things that are foreign-made, it becomes more expensive to buy.<br>

“I’m concerned going into 2009. This country needs 13 billion bushels of corn and I’m somewhat concerned that we’ll have adequate fertility sources to do that.”<br>

Yet, he cautioned, commodity prices are up and farmers are making a profit.<br>

They should not go to the fertilizer suppliers and complain about price because it is a supply-and-demand situation, Drewes said.<br>

Climate change legislation<br>

After meeting with members of Congress and the U.S. Senate to discuss climate change legislation, Drewes said the topic went from a back-burner to being one of the OCGA’s biggest priorities.<br>

“There is a major impetus in Washington, D.C., among politicians and a lot of the public – especially the conservation-type groups – to push climate change legislation through in the near future,” he said. “It’s right here in the forefront and if certain people have their way, I think there is going to be some climate legislation passed sooner than we realize.<br>

“What they’re trying to do is contain greenhouse gases. This is something I think all farmers had better get themselves prepared to deal with.”<br>

The legislation would limit greenhouse gas emissions – that means factories, automobile emissions and many other things in everyday life.<br>

“Agriculture’s role in the past has always been … we would cap the greenhouse gases; we would trade that into a way to capture the carbon,” Drewes said. “In the past, producers would look at this as a good way to capture some value; agriculture would be a net winner.<br>

“What we found out in Washington is that if this legislation would pass, the negatives could be much greater than the positives. Our cost of production would go up significantly.<br>

“Our input costs would probably rise greater than the value we got out of any trade system on our crop system,” he said. “We need to raise the awareness level, as producers, so that we are educated and understand the implications of these bills, because if they’re passed, they’re going to have some very negative effects on us.”
Sen. George Voinovich’s (R-Ohio) office estimated that the cost of electricity would rise 100-150 percent if this legislation is passed, Drewes said.<br>

“We need to educate ourselves to present our side of the story to our politicians,” he said. “We are going to have to be prepared to talk sense about it and present our side of the case.”<br>

Farm bill<br>

“It’s in the conference committee,” Drewes said of the farm bill. “They have issues to work out. We hope that it has a revenue-based safety net. Farmers need a safety net.”<br>

It is going to be a long process and it will probably be mid-summer before producers can go to their FSA offices and sign up, he added.