ICMB chair reflects on past year’s efforts

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — 2023 was a year of wins and continued challenges that will extend into the new year for the corn industry.

Jon Rosenstiel, Illinois Corn Marketing Board chairman, reflected on past accomplishments and the road going forward in an interview during the Illinois Corn Growers Association annual meeting.

Rosenstiel farms in northwestern Illinois in the Pearl City area with his wife, Stephanie, and three children, Lucas, Liana and Laine. They own a cow-calf operation, as well as grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

He utilizes conservation practices such as no-till and minimum-till on their acres. In addition to farming, he is also a crop adjuster.

Rosenstiel served as the secretary/treasurer on the Stephenson County Farm Bureau and was a chair of the Stephenson County Soil and Water Conservation District.

First, how did things go this past growing season on your farm?

Rosenstiel: We had a very challenging growing season like everybody else did — dry, dry, dry. I have a cow-calf operation, too, in addition to corn and soybeans. The pastures dried up in June.

We didn’t mow the yard for a whole month, but in the end to sum it all up, we had a wonderful crop. There were some failures in the dry areas, in the thin soils and that kind of stuff, but probably near-record production in our area.

With modern genetics and modern techniques, it is truly a miracle and we were truly really blessed this year.

What are some of the issues the ICMB is focused on?

Rosenstiel: We are the overseer of the checkoff funds. Seven-eighths of a cent of every bushel that gets marketed in the state of Illinois goes into the checkoff fund and that’s what we oversee.

Our main focus is promotion of corn, the marketing of corn mainly through exports, through ethanol, but then we also get into some conservation work, we’re getting into some farmer relevancy work, as well, to make the public aware of what farmers do and try to raise their awareness of agriculture.

But, again, the main focus is on exports of not only raw corn, but of DDGs, of meat and poultry, animals that would be eating corn.

Japan reached an agreement with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the USDA and U.S. Embassy Tokyo that last spring that will allow the U.S. to capture up to 100% of Japan’s on-road ethanol market. According to the new biofuels policy under the Sophisticated Methods of Energy Supply Structure Act, exports of U.S. ethanol could increase by over 80 million gallons annually, representing an additional $150 million to 200 million in exports each year. What do you think of that policy?

Rosenstiel: One of the wins we had this year included making great strides in Japan, mainly in their acceptance of Illinois ethanol, and that they’ll be raising their blend rates of ethanol in their fuel supply.

What are some of Illinois Corn’s other wins?

Rosenstiel: Another win was the “We are the 96%” campaign, a collaborative effort between Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Pork Producers, Illinois Soybean Association, Midwest Dairy and the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. That campaign was very successful. We plan to continue that again in 2024, expand that out.

We’re also working right now to try to help our members with the labor situation that we have because we realize that agriculture is not always the first choice of a student going to maybe a junior college or university.

We need good, strong young people in agriculture, and maybe not to be a farmer, but to help support that farmer through maybe a local dealership, a machinery dealership, or the agronomy inputs that need to be purchased. They need good, qualified people, too, and there certainly is a need there.

Does ICMB partner with community colleges and universities in these efforts?

Rosenstiel: Yes, with what we do with the checkoff funds. We cannot fund any research that will raise yields, but we can fund research for education towards helping build out the infrastructure of agriculture, be that, how can we raise crops more efficiently, use less water, use less nutrients, soil conservation programs, things like that.

Then we’ve also transformed that into how can we help build out this workforce that we’re so badly in need of.

Another win for Illinois agriculture was the ongoing lock and dam upgrades in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, right?

Rosenstiel: That’s really come front and center with locks and dams because now there finally has been funding tagged towards it. We want to keep the foot on the gas and make sure that the government follows through on their obligations to do the upgrades that they have committed to. Not only what they have committed to, but any future projects that may be out there.

Our lock and dam system is very old and maintenance can only do so much to keep up with the demand.

Mexico is the top export customer for U.S. corn. What is the current status with Mexico and its proposed ban on genetically modified corn?

Rosenstiel: That’s a work in progress. I’ll be going to Mexico in December to have some discussion on a storage program that we have with them down there. The GMO and glyphosate issue, the white corn issue, that’s all kind of a work in progress and there’s a lot of work to be done yet.

But a lot of it is understanding and coming to an understanding of what they want and what we have and what we can provide. It’s a relationship that just needs to built stronger.