NGCA’s New President: ‘I Think It’s a Lot of Worry and a Lot of Scared’

Jed Bower, the incoming president of the National Corn Growers Association, joined us for his sector’s perspective on the ongoing government shutdown.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) — Jed Bower, the incoming president of the National Corn Growers Association (NGCA), joined us on Wednesday’s Market Day Report for his sector’s perspective on the ongoing government shutdown, rising input costs, and trade uncertainty for commodity crop growers.

“I think it’s a lot of worry and a lot of scared,” Bower said in his interview with RFD-TV News. “You know, as we hear this term crisis, I mean, it gets louder and louder every day. As you mentioned, we’re looking at the largest decline in years. We haven’t seen inputs fall off quite like that.”

The NGCA recently formed a task force to address the skyrocketing cost of inputs, such as steel and fertilizer – many of which are rising exponentially due to the Trump Administration’s retaliatory tariff strategy – that are squeezing corn growers.

“We do applaud the administration, and the [ag] secretary, [Brooke Rollins] -- they’re out beating the bush around the world,” Bower said. “We’re seeing truly record exports in the corn sector. But, man, the price farmers are getting – it is just not making any sense for what it’s going to cost us to put next year’s crop out. And we appreciate, you know, some of the comments made by the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary about diving into this more and seeing why there’s such a broad, broad distance between what we’re able to sell our product for and truly what it’s going to cost us to put next year’s crop out.”

According to recent research, corn growers could spend up to 40 percent of their budgets on fertilizers alone.

Related Stories
In this Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV legal expert Roger McEowen, he looks ahead at what might be the biggest issues in ag law and tax in 2024.
In part seven of his blog series,"Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” agri-legal expert Roger McEowen covers the #1 issues, SCOTUS and defining a “Water of the United States.”
In part six of his blog series,"Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” farm legal expert Roger McEowen tackles issue #2, foreign ownership of ag land.
In part five of his blog series, “Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” Roger McEowen tackles issue number three, California’s Prop 12 pork regulations.
In part four of his blog series, “Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” Roger McEowen tackles issue number four, the Employment Retention Credit.
In part three of his blog series, “Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” Roger McEowen covers the Corps of Engineers’ mismanagement of Missouri River water levels.
Two more key developments in ag law and taxation from 2023, a crackdown on biodiesel fraud and developments in self-employment taxation (#7 and #6), are the topic of today’s Firm to Farm blog post, the second in a series by RFD-TV agri-legal expert Roger McEowen.
In this behind-the-scenes look at the newest episode of Where the Food Comes From, “Simple as Corn, Part 1,” written by show producer and script supervisor Donna Sanders, follow the crew during their time filming in Sun Prairie and Coloma, Wisconsin.
The start of the review of the most important ag law and tax developments of 2023—that is the topic of today’s Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV agri-legal expert Roger A. McEowen

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

U.S. aquaculture may gain competitive ground as harmful subsidies are phased out abroad, but producers should monitor shifts in import supply chains and trade enforcement closely.
Producers may need to prepare for margin pressure in livestock feeding, while dairy farmers could benefit from stronger product demand.
Farmers await concrete trade commitments from China. Until then, export prospects for soybeans, corn, and sorghum remain uncertain against strong South American competition.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today issued a new memorandum to modernize and strengthen America’s wildfire prevention and response system.
Understanding the Big, Beautiful Bill’s complex impact on SNAP benefits – that’s the topic of today’s Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV’s legal expert, Roger McEowen.
National Sorghum Producers CEO Tim Lust said farmers face a challenging year with strong supply, murky trade conditions, and uncertain access to their largest market: China.