Testing and Handling GMO and Non-GMO Grains

In April, 1999, the three largest US com processors, Cargill, Archer-Daniels-Midland, and AE Staley announced that they would not accept corn from hybrids that had genetic modifications not yet approved for sale in the European Union (EU) (www.grainnet.com/BreakingNews/articles.html?ID=3581). While the USA sells little whole com to Europe, it does export com gluten products to the EU. Gluten feed and meal are produced from the protein and bran fractions of com after starch has been extracted in a wet mill plant. This statement affected an estimated 3-7% of the com about to be planted this spring, but nonetheless greatly increased the awareness of the US market to the rapidly expanding genetically modified organism (GMO) issue in Europe. Consumer pressures increased through the growing season to the point that, in September, ADM requested that elevators serving its plants separate all GMO products from all non-GMO products, regardless of EU approval status. (www.grainnet.com/BreakingNews/articles.html?ID=4653

Quality and Storage Challenges for the 2005 Crop

Management of the 2005 Iowa crop is presenting varied challenges for quality and storage. In southeast Iowa, drought-induced aflatoxin in corn is the primary issue. In NC-NW Iowa, larger than anticipated corn and soybean crops combined with large old crop carryovers and new demands of the ethanol industry have caused significant amounts of corn to be placed in outdoor piles. Management of aflatoxin and outdoor/temporary storage is presented. Statewide, rapid maturity and field drydown reduced soybean protein levels sharply compared to the previous 3 years

The Impact of FDA Traceability Rules on Iowa Agriculture

In June of 2006, the Food and Drug Administration will begin enforcement of new bioterror related recordkeeping rules for food products. Handlers and shippers of food products (including bulk grains) will be required to keep records of the origin and type of food received, and to whom the food products were then sold or delivered. Tracking grain from farmers through to end users will present major challenges, but also will support other market-driven requests for traceability, purity and food safety. This session will present the regulations as they apply to farmers, grain handlers and processors and will offer some initial steps toward meeting the requirements

Current Storage and Handling Issues for the 2007 Crop

The October 12, 2007 crop report indicated a US corn production of 13.318 billion bushels as compared to 10.565 billion bushels in 2006. Soybean production was set at 2.598 billion bushels, down from 3.188 billion in 2006. The Iowa corn crop was set at 2.511 billion bushels versus 2.050 billion bushels in 2006. The Iowa soybean crop was established at 0.44 3 billion bushels compared to 0.510 billion in 2006. Overall, the shift from soybeans to corn represented a net increase of 2.18 billion bushels in US grain volume, approximately 0.50 billion of which was in Iowa. Increased ethanol demand has further pressured available storage by requiring that an estimated 0.50 billion bushels of Iowa corn that might have left the state remain here for ethanol use in the 2007-2008 marketing year. On average, ethanol plants have storage for about 5% of annual consumption with the expectation that the long term storage functions would be provided by farmers and elevators. The net impact is that Iowa may be short 0.6- l.0 billion bushels of covered storage for the 2007 crop