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IN the Washington, D.C., Beltway, agriculture has taken quite a beating in recent years. In 2008, corn farmers got sucker punched when corn prices briefly spiked and started a debate over whether farmers could produce enough corn to feed people and animals and also supply ethanol plants.
Mark Lambert, senior communications manager for the National Corn Growers Assn. (NCGA), explained that the food versus fuel debate was the tipping point for getting corn farmers on board with better telling the story of how they produce more with less.
In late winter 2008, 10 state corn associations and NCGA formed an alliance called the Corn Farmers Coalition to educate policy-makers in Washington about how technology-savvy, innovative farmers are growing more corn every year for food, animal feed, ethanol and exports while using fewer resources and protecting the environment.
"People were talking about corn being bad and evil, but it was a small group of noisy people saying it. Corn is the thing we do best in this country. Corn can be anything; it's that versatile. We are left wanting if we don't pursue our strength. We need to turn our abundance into a true asset for this country, or we'll get buried in corn and put farmers out of business," Lambert said.
He said the Washington audience is a blank slate, which presents an opportunity for farmers to tell their story. However, the little this audience does know is fueled by misconceptions, he added.
Through focus groups, the alliance found that this influential audience of policy-makers and those involved in the political arena believe family farms don't exist, that ethanol is new and that corn is in short supply. They also view corn as being heavily linked to food rather than feed or industrial uses when, in reality, less than 1% of corn is eaten in the form of sweet corn (see Corn Facts).
"We thought farmers' image had been hurt, and it had," Lambert said, but their image is remarkable overall -- on the same level as doctors and other highly trusted individuals.
Fact-based campaign
The Corn Farmers Coalition set out to set the facts straight. The focus groups found that there was an information gap, and it needed to be filled with positive messages that were easy to document and focused on farmers rather than just the corn crop.
In early March, the coalition officially launched a web site (www.CornFarmersCoalition.org), an advertising campaign and a statistical abstract on America's biggest crop in its Corn Fact Book.
The Corn Fact Book was hand delivered to key players on Capitol Hill ranging from environmental groups and think tanks to congressional members and staffers. From cover to cover, the short book tackles some of the greatest misconceptions about corn production and highlights the advancements today's farmers are making.
The coalition used facts from government and academics. For example, farmers grew the second-largest corn crop on record last year, enough to export a fifth and even set aside plenty of corn in case America needs it later. There will be ample reasonably priced corn for the foreseeable future, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other experts.
The book also highlights that the U.S. has the most productive corn farmers in the world: They grow five times more than in the 1930s on 20% less land. Thanks to new innovations, the corn grown on each acre will double again in only 25 years.
With new technologies, new seed varieties and precision-farming techniques, corn producers are also protecting the environment -- reducing their use of fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation, preventing erosion and reducing greenhouse gases.
The Corn Farmers Coalition just began its second round of targeted advertising, which utilizes print advertisements in influential Washington publications, radio messages on National Public Radio and electronic advertisements targeting anyone with a government (.gov) web address. The first round of advertising resulted in 10 million impressions in a five-week time span.
The web site also features farmer profiles to highlight the innovative ways they do more using less.
Editor's Note: Next week, Feedstuffs FoodLink will feature how state-level corn grower associations use the same information to better educate policy-makers and consumers. | 
