North Iowa resident Chris Edgington, the current vice president of the National Corn Growers Association, said that 2020 corn prices slid to a low of about $2.90 a bushel in June during the pandemic shutdown, and since has increased sharply to the present local prices of around $4.70 a bushel during the first week of January.
St. Ansgar farmer Chris Edgington said that although the commodity markets have been soaring, there have been some disappointments in exporting of corn byproducts.
Chris Edgington has a lot to look forward to in 2021.
On Oct. 1, the current vice president of the National Corn Growers Association will assume the leadership role of the organization.
Edgington, who row crop farms with his brother Tom and son Alex northwest of St. Ansgar, is looking forward to becoming president. The National Corn Growers Association promotes the sales of corn and corn byproducts both domestically and internationally.
Because of the current pandemic, the Board’s activity has been quite challenging, with most of its activity via the internet.
“On a normal year, our committee would be in Washington, D.C., at this time meeting with new people on the Ag committees, but with the pandemic we didn’t go this year.
Edgington said there will be a lot of new faces on the committees this year, and there has to be a lot of settling in before the Board will know much about new farm policies.
"We will have new chairmen for Ag committees in both the U.S. House and Senate," he said. "Former Iowa governor, and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has again been nominated to become the new Secretary of the USDA. We know him very well, and I believe he will work toward farmers’ benefits, and certainly Ethanol will be a part of his decisions."
Edgington pointed out that 2020 corn prices slid to a low of about $2.90 a bushel in June during the pandemic shutdown, and since has increased sharply to the present local prices of around $4.70 a bushel during the first week of January.
“The prices have risen because of the lower carryout caused by the drought in the Western Corn Belt, which included Western Iowa, and the derecho winds that hit Central and Eastern Iowa, Illinois and Indiana," he said. "We didn’t raise near as much corn as they had thought we would."
“Edgington said there was also an increase in China buying in late summer and through the fall.
"They have bought more bushels than Mexico, who is usually the biggest importer of US corn," he said.
He pointed out that during the tariff war, U.S. exporters had added some smaller trading partners, which continue to buy grain even though China is back in the U.S. corn market. He also wonders how the new administration in Washington will handle a phase two trade agreement with China.
Though the commodity markets have been soaring, Edgington said there have been some disappointments in exporting of corn byproducts. He stated that China hadn’t bought as much ethanol for auto and industrial use, or dried distillers grain for animal consumption, as was once predicted.
While discussing the country's downturn in domestic ethanol use, Edgington said we often forget there are various parts to the oil industry, such as oil wells, refineries, retailors, and wholesalers, and all these components must recover before the oil industry recovers. When more fuel is sold, it will increase demand for domestic ethanol.
Edgington also discussed the effect of last summer’s derecho, which destroyed millions of row-crop acres.
One of the major concerns is the downed corn was near maturity, and with much of the corn crop disked under, or corn ears falling off during harvesting, it could lead to an abundance of volunteer corn.
To rid a field of excessive volunteer corn could demand a type of herbicide that would adversely affect newly planted corn. Many believe derecho area farmers will plant added soybean acres, rather than plant corn after corn.
That would drive smaller corn acres in 2021.
Other pending international questions for corn prices are how the dry weather and late planting will affect yields in Argentina, which is another major corn exporter.
It’s also reported that China’s hog production has recovered to around 80 percent since the outbreak of the African Swine Fever. Experts believe as China’s swine population grows, China will have a greater demand for corn imports.
Edgington believes that as he assumes the presidency of the National Growers Association in October, there will be some challenges.
“Becoming president, I don’t know if things will be back to normal by then,” said Edgington.
If current COVID-19 regulation are still in place, it will curtail his in-person meetings across the country, and he will have to rely more on virtual meetings, which he is currently doing. He said international trade missions to the U.S. could also be affected.
In the end, Edgington is optimist about the future of corn and corn prices.
“U.S. corn farmers still produce the highest yields in the world and produce the largest volume of corn,” he said.
But he cautions that if the U.S. tries to make agriculture better every day, "we still are working with Mother Nature while growing corn, soybeans, and raising livestock, and exporting agricultural products.”
January 26, 2021 at 01:00PM
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Edgington becomes president of National Corn Growers Association - Mason City Globe Gazette
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