Today I’m attending the first in a series of workshops hosted by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to discuss competition and regulatory issues affecting the agriculture industry. Converging for this hallmark event in Ankeny are sure to be a host of lawyers, PR professionals, members of the media, politicians, seed company representatives, as well as crop farmers and livestock producers.

It could very well be a three-ring circus. One blogger even called today’s public hearing on the seed industry a “Big Ticket, Vegas-style showdown” with a couple of heavyweights (i.e. DuPont and Monsanto) throwing punches and advancing the antitrust issue.

At the end of the day, I’m not hoping for any knockouts or drag downs. The entire agriculture industry will be better served when more “heavyweights” enter the arena.

More technology providers means increased competition, and increased competition means more choices for everyone from seed suppliers to crop producers.

Submit your comments by Sept. 25 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about its expanded Renewable Fuel Standard regulations, known as RFS II. This proposed standard could drasticaly impact the future of U.S. corn-based ethanol because it creates an unlevel playing field for corn ethanol, while ignoring the impacts of oil and gas production.

A study from Informa Economics estimates the annual recurruing costs to comply with the renewable biomass provisions whithin the RFS II will be approximately $420 million or nearly $.09/bushel.

The RFS II also places significant burdens on U.S. farmers by requring proof that feedstocks used for ethanol production came from cropland that was in production prior to 2007. In addition, the RFS II doesn’t take into account corn growers’ ability to continually produce a larger supply of corn through increased yields.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has several serious concerns about the EPA’s proposed rule to implement the expanded RFS II. For an outline of these concerns, visit: http://www.ncga.com/ncga-growers-help-us-respond-epa-ethanol-standard-9-15-09.

These concerns can easily be incorporated into your comments to the EPA. To download sample letters or e-mail messages, visit the NCGA Action Center online at: http://capwiz.com/ncga/issues/alert/?alertid=14028181.