Corn growers urge USDA to invest in corn grain research
NCGA and 15 state groups pressed USDA to fund corn grain research, arguing stover has drawn the spotlight while growers face high costs and low prices.
The National Corn Growers Association on June 9 urged USDA to back corn grain research, with 15 state corn organizations joining the letter. The appeal to Under Secretary Scott Hutchins said the agency should invest in the grain’s protein, oil, starch and fiber, not only in corn stover. It also leaned on Secretary Brooke Rollins’ 2026 Research and Development priorities, which emphasized farm profitability and expanding markets for new agricultural feedstocks.
NCGA said corn grain already offers an abundant and sustainable feedstock with established harvesting, storage and transport infrastructure. The group said that base could support demand in biofuels, industrial products and biobased chemicals, giving USDA a way to strengthen the existing corn system while new outlets develop. The letter framed that push against a backdrop of high input costs, low commodity prices and trade uncertainty in farm country.
The association said research dollars have tilted toward crop residues, especially corn stover, even as grain remains the foundation of the current ethanol and feed market. According to the letter, some land-grant university researchers avoid using the words corn grain in grant proposals because they believe the phrase can hurt funding chances. The letter contrasted that with stronger success for proposals built around stover, a sign that federal research incentives may be steering innovation toward residue pathways rather than the core grain system.
NCGA said it represents nearly 40,000 dues-paying corn growers and the interests of more than 300,000 farmers. Hutchins serves as USDA’s Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and as the department’s chief scientist, putting him at the center of how USDA defines research priorities for the next round of feedstock innovation. That makes the corn grain debate less about a single proposal than about whether USDA treats existing grain-based infrastructure as a decarbonization platform or leaves the field to next-generation residue projects.
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