BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The new and immediate past presidents of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) were in attendance at the annual meeting of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, held November 25 at the Illinois Corn Agri-Center. During a brief speech, new NCGA President Jed Bower, a corn grower from Washington Court House, Ohio, promised those in attendance, including former NCGA president and corn farmer Ken Hartman of Waterloo, Illinois, that he would make the rural economy and market expansion for corn his top priorities. 

“Weve got a big fight ahead, but I know that we at NCGA and all of you are ready for that,” said Bower, who took over from Hartman on October 1 after serving the prior year as vice president of the organization’s board and a member of several key NCGA committees, including the finance committee. He begins his presidency as corn growers face the largest three-year decline in net cash receipts in history due to declining crop farm profitability associated with lower prices and elevated input costs.

“Looking ahead at some of NCGA’s priorities and my priorities for the next coming year, ethanol blends are at the top, but my true number-one priority is this: I want to bring profitability back to the American corn farmer. Ethanol is going to be a key to that. Hopefully we can get (year-round) E-15 soon, because we have to get to higher blends. Obviously, market access is (also) huge,” said Bower, who is currently working to secure a full, 16-year extension to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. 

The new NCGA president promised to tackle out-of-control input costs, especially for fertilizers. To that end, NCGA has established a special committee to examine drivers behind the continued rise in input costs, and ways to mitigate them. 

Bower was effusive in his praise for the job Hartman did during his year as president, along with his assistance in helping him transition into the association’s top leadership role. “Kenny has been such a mentor to me moving forward. In fact, my hair is starting to look a little like his,” Bower said, grinning towards his silver-haired friend and colleague. 

“Seriously, we’ve seen Kenny everywhere this year, pushing back on the administration, pushing back on MAHA; Kenny truly had no fear when it came to pushing the interests of the corn growers, and we appreciated that all across farm country.”

Following his brief address to ICGA leadership and members, Bower told Farm World there are a “couple of keys” to achieving his goal of returning profitability to corn farmers. “We have to keep pushing ethanol, we have to keep driving the export markets and bring this price up. We also have to look at the other side; what are farmers paying to put a crop out? It looks pretty high from our farm, so I want to make sure we have a balance between what we’re getting out of our crop and what we’re putting into it,” he said. 

Bower vowed to seek new ways to minimize the impact of monopoly-driven prices set by fertilizer, chemical and machinery companies. “We are getting gouged as the American corn farmer, it’s not a fair practice, and I think we’ve got to bring a light to that,” he said. 

Increasing domestic ethanol demand in the short-term, another priority of Bower’s and the NCGA, could depend on whether year-round E15 is pushed over the finish line by Congress and signed into law before the end of the year, according to Bower. “If we get E15 over the line, that’s going to bring approximately another 2 to 2.5 billion bushels of corn out of the piles and into the gas tank,” he said. “From there we have to continue to push to drive higher blends, look at a national high octane clean fuel standard and push ethanol around the world in the export market along with corn in all forms.”

NCGA leaders have ramped up pressure on Congress to pass the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025, which would eliminate a clause in the Clean Air Act preventing sales of fuel with 15 percent ethanol blends or greater during the summer. A change will provide more predictability and boost demand for corn, according to Bower and NCGA.

A fifth-generation grower, Bower farms with his wife, Emily, and children, Ethan and Emma, in Fayette County, Ohio. His term as NCGA president will expire on October 1, 2026, the beginning of the next fiscal NCGA year.