Iowa Grain Quality Initiative
Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2009
Present: Charles Brown, Gary DeLong, Randy Dunn, Ray Hansen, Connie Hardy, Harold Hommes,
Charles Hurburgh (moderator), Nick Huston, Randy Ives, Mike Jerke, Larry Johnson, Dan Loy, Jerry
Miller, Mark Reisinger, Howard Shepherd, Greg Tylka, Dick Vegors
Guests: Allison Burgers (ISU Grain Quality Lab)
Welcome and Introductions: Charles Hurburgh
Morning presentations and discussion
ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences update: Jerry Miller, Associate Dean of Agriculture and
Natural Resources Extension, gave the following report:
Sharron Quisenberry, professor of entomology and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, is Iowa State University's new vice president for research and economic development. Quisenberry will join ISU on April 1, 2009.
Arne Hallem, currently department chair of the ISU Economics Dept., will become the dean of the ISU
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. An interim department chair for the Economics Dept. will be appointed soon.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences currently has 2,845 undergraduate students in 15 departments.
Graduate student numbers remain consistent over recent years at 675.
The Crop Advantage education series is being held at 13 locations during the month of January. A complete schedule can be viewed at www.aep.iastate.edu
.
ISU Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension asked several faculty members to prepare concept papers noting current issues and describing problem-solving strategies related to Iowa’s bioeconomy.
These were developed into presentations that were video-taped and broadcast for public meetings in 96 counties with a total attendance of more than 800. The presentations were used to stimulate discussion about local impacts of the bioeconomy and practical solutions to current problems. The presentations will be uploaded to the ANR website soon. One is featured today as the topic for the ANR Lunch and Learn program.
Note: During lunch hour, today’s ANR Lunch and Learn program will be available to view at this meeting. Today’s presenters are William Edwards and Bob Jolly addressing the topic “Managing Farms and Agribusinesses in the Face of Recession”.
Project presentations - these will be made available at www.iowagrain.org
.
Measurement of Corn Amino Acids – Connie Hardy, ISU Extension Value Added Agriculture
Program reported that initial calibrations for measuring methionine and lysine in corn with near infrared

(NIR) whole grain analyzers were successfully developed. The project was sponsored by the Agricultural
Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) as part of a broader effort to develop organically grown high methionine corn varieties for organic poultry rations.
Measurement of Fermentable Starch Content by Near Infrared Spectroscopy – Allison
Burgers, ISU Grain Quality Lab, reported that two strategies for measuring fermentable starch in corn were tested and compared. One strategy involves direct comparison of NIR spectra with a laboratory starch fermentation procedure; the other strategy uses NIR measurements of nutrient components (i.e. protein, oil, density) to calculate fermentable starch. The latter strategy (calculation based on NIR measurements of other components) produced higher accuracy. The calculation method will be pilot tested at an ethanol plant and the study will be published. At that time, the NIR calibrations will be available to the industry.
Discussion following this presentation included the following points:
This technology could be used effectively if an ethanol plant worked with a feed mill to help sort inbound corn;
Presampling grain in bins before delivery to an ethanol plant would allow the plant to schedule deliveries of corn with similar properties;
Hybrid selection would be facilitated;
An immediate use would be to help ethanol plants determine processing efficiency.
High-Throughput Near Infrared (NIRS) Analysis for Plant Breeding Applications – Charles
Hurburgh, ISU Grain Quality Lab – measurement systems can create a lot of confusion in the industry when calibrations are based on non-related reference measurements. NIR measurements are usually more repeatable than are analytical chemistry measurements. Different types of NIR instruments do not agree with each other on all types of measurements.
Grain Storage and Management Practices – Howard Shepherd, Iowa Grain Quality Initiative
Howard Shepherd reported results of recent surveys including the Iowa Farm Poll and the IGQI ethanol plant survey and provided an update on IGQI’s web-based tool “Grain Storage Module” that will help farmers analyze storage needs and estimate costs of building new storage.
Stewardship in Weed Management – Micheal Owen (presented by Howard Shepherd)
This presentation covered impacts of glyphosate use on crop yield, the environment, and weed shifts.
Results of a survey of farmers and chemical dealers about herbicide use patterns were presented. Four classes of weeds that are common in Iowa have developed weed resistance.
ANR Lunch and Learn was connected for viewing during lunch break.
Afternoon presentations and discussion
Charles Brown, Iowa Farm Bureau representative, presented and led a discussion about recent shifts in the elements of risk for farmers, grain co-ops, and ag input suppliers. Risk protection and increased risks were described in terms of the factors below.
Risk protection:
Contracting, hedging, insurance, government programs, possession of commodity or input
Increased risks:
Volatile markets, bankruptcies, credit crunch, economy, supply, weather
Business dealings involving risk: storing grain, inventory management, contracting, prepaying, margin calls

Discussion following the presentation included:
1.
Understanding markets and risk –
IGQI should consider developing an explanation of marketing scenarios and risks involved with each player in the market chain. The 2008 market season would serve as a good case study to explain how and if the market could support $8/bu corn price. What price would ethanol need to be to support corn at this price? What would that look like without tax credits? Currently the price support has decreased from 51 cents/gal to 46cents/gal, and that credit goes to the blender.
In addition, we need to estimate what meat prices need to be to support corn at $8/bu. What is the role of the speculator in these markets? What will the need be for certain IP grains? How can diversification strengthen the whole system?
2.
Technology of grain storage management –
IGQI could:
-provide farmers;an unbiased look at the choices in monitoring technology;
-guide farmers in site selection that allows access to the grain (hard surface roads) and a guarantee of electrical power;
-determine the “greenest’ way to store and move corn. This would help users of corn who are now being asked to produce a “carbon footprint” for their products (i.e., Walmart buyers of pork need a carbon footprint for the hogs, including the feed ingredients)
-provide bankers with an explanation of “hedging” in grain markets
New project:
Ray Hansen, Extension -Value Added Agriculture Program, described a new project that will involve
Chad Hart, ISU Economics Dept. faculty and a new member of the management team of the IGQI, and the VAAP. Chad and VAAP will look at strategies to describe the products of corn fractionation using existing survey data and gathering new data, recognizing that fractionation processes differ. The project will also include an assessment of the impact of one vs. multiple fractionation systems within the industry. A suggestion was made to also describe potential users of fractionation products.
Next meeting:
It was decided that IGQI should continue to have 2 meetings per year. The next meeting is scheduled for
Friday, July 10, 2009.