grain preview 2016

2C Azteca now contracts all food corn locally

3C Inaction will have Negative Implications Across the Nation

4C Sorghum specialist offers look at this year’s crop

5C Texas Tech corn breeder: Moisture

6C Mexican ethanol producers set sights on sorghum

7C New A&M researcher tracking

8C Local status check on sugarcane aphid

1D 2016 Outstanding Wheat County Extension Agent Award

2D White Energy boosts ethanol production

3D Sugarcane Aphids: Research and Management Updates

4D Sugarcane aphids have arrived in the High Plains

Plainview Herald | August 17, 2016 | Section C

C PLAINVIEW HERALD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016GRAIN PREVIEW

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BY GORDON ZEIGLERSpecial to the Herald

Several key factors helped Azteca Corn Milling transition to contracting all food corn locally this year at the world’s largest plant producing corn flour.

Despite some challenges with heat and dry weather in July, which lowered yield potential, the crop is nearing harvest in good condition, plant spokesmen say.

Guillermo Ibarra directed the company’s first successful effort of its kind Azteca’s Manager of Corn Operations here.

He credits a plentiful pool of loyal and skilled producers, willing to accept and fulfill contracts, as the key contributor to Azteca’s success.

Ibarra became Corn Operations Manager in Plainview earlier this year as his prede-cessor Santos Gallegos was promoted to Director of Corn Operations for Gruma Corp, Dallas, parent of Azteca Milling. He was Corn Operations Manager in Edinburg for eight years and prior to that was associ-ated with Azteca operations Venezuela and El Salvador.

The 2016 crop faced challenges during the hot, dry summer.

“With all the heat we had in July, when we had several days when corn was trying to pol-linate, it didn’t get a good kernel set,” said John Bickel, Azteca Field Representative. “That is going to reduce yields on some of it, some as much as 15 percent, or more.”

A second challenge was lack of rain. “We had only an inch of rain since June 15, until we got the rains in August,” Bickel said. “Since mid-June we have had less than 3 inches of rain.

This has been a drought year.” On a positive note, Bickel said, “We got

all (contracts) we needed from local growers and the crop is good. It’s going to be off, but I think we are going to be OK.”

Continuing to add harvest receiving ef-ficiencies at the plant recently, Azteca has a few new additions this year.

The pre-cleaner system was improved at the front end of processing at the main plant, to have more efficient process and clean the corn better before it goes into storage bins,” Bickel said. “It will keep the corn in much better condition in the bin.”Improved receiving will be seen at the Azteca annex south of Plainview-Hale County Airport with addition of another set of scales, bring-ing capabilities there to two scales.

Many improvements to the infrastructure have laid the groundwork for local contract-ing expansion in the future, as the company requirements grow.

That began with the addition of corn dry-ing equipment at a leased annex on CR110 south of the Plainview/Hale County Airport in 2014. That brought corn receiving ca-pabilities for yellow corn up to the level of Azteca’s main facility. Results were dramati-

cally improved and producers liked the arrangement.Recent improvements were made possible when Azteca’s leased corn annex south of

Plainview-Hale County Airport added two corn dryers to speed up processing. Prior to that, Azteca’s leased storage could only receive dry white corn, but now loads with higher moisture content of both white and yellow corn can be accepted at either terminal which relieves waiting times at harvest. See Azteca contracts Page 7C

FOOD CORNCONTRACTS

Azteca now contracts all food corn locally

“That is going to reduce yields on some of it, some as much as 15 percent,

or more.”

CPLAINVIEW HERALD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 GRAIN PREVIEW

By STEPHANIE PRUITTCorn Producers Association of Texas

LUBBOCK -- U.S. corn exports generate $74.7 billion in annual

that extend well beyond the nation’s farmlands, according to a new analysis conducted by Informa Economics IEG.

The study asserts that the ex-port of corn and corn products generated $604.8 million in an-nual economic output in Texas in 2014.

“Corn drives a large part of the U.S. farm economy, whether in the form of feed, ethanol, meat or dairy,” Bruce Wetzel, the Corn Producers Associa-tion of Texas (CPAT) president and farmer from Sherman, Texas, said. “The impact outlined in

-cant. Our country’s

not only farmers and ranchers, but the na-tion’s economy as a whole.”

The study, which was commissioned by the National Corn Growers As-sociation and U.S. Grains Council, both of which CPAT is a

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of the export of corn, the corn equivalent of meats, ethanol, the co-product dried distillers grains (DDGs), and corn gluten

at the national and state level, but also for some congressional districts as well.

Statewide, the study found corn exports increased the gross state product (GSP) by $199 million over what would have occurred without such exports, and linked 2,168 full-time equiv-alent jobs, either directly or indirectly, to corn exports.

Every $1 million in exports of corn and corn products gener-ates an additional $0.6 million in business sales and 7 jobs across Texas.

The value of corn and corn product exports is notable at a value of $307.1 million in Texas.

“This study is more than just numbers, it outlines the many lives across the state and na-tion that would face negative implications without a strong corn export program,” Wetzel said.

This study underscores the -

nership (TPP), an international trade agreement that would expand farmers’ market access

-zel continued.

“Passage of TPP is key to ex-panding trade opportunities for America’s farmers and ranch-ers. The failure to move on this opportunity would negatively impact families on and off the farm across the nation,” Wetzel said. “Now is the time to act and secure the economic suc-cess for the nation – starting in America’s heartland.”

Inaction will have Negative Implications Across the Nation

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By GORDON ZEIGLERSpecial to the Herald

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Texas A&M AgriLife

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radar.

concern.”

said.

-

level right now.”

other acres are late.

-

now, Trostle said.

water.

-Trostle visited that area.

-ing well with the rains,” he said.

Sorghum specialist offers look at this year’s crop

Dr. Calvin Trostle by

“If the sorghum is already headed out the irony is that if you get a quarter inch of rain (on

irrigated sorghum) and you’re here at this point

helps. On the other hand, if you’re dryland, it probably doesn’t do you much good.”


BY GORDON ZEIGLERSpecial to the Herald

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and even for grain crop.”

good news for late corn.

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Texas Tech corn breeder: Moisture benefits huge, even when late

WHAT A DIFFERENCE

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their plants,” said Heidi Bringen-

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See Sorghum Page 7C

Mexican ethanol producers set sights on sorghum

PAGE 6C PLAINVIEW HERALD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016GRAIN PREVIEW

SORGHUM

“Some producers are currently using

sugar cane and

This program gave them the

opportunity to see how sorghum could

be used too.”


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BY KAY LEDBETTERTexas A&M AgriLife Communications

acids in live plant cells.

-

--

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“...we can purify the sensor

protein from bacteria and use it as a cheap and

to detect amino acids in a complex

sample.”-

and weeds.”

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Dr. Sakiko Okumoto is the newest faculty member in Texas A&M University’s soil and crop science department and will be working as a plant physiologist with Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

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Sorghum.From Page 6C

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and raise the ethanol

-

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this.”

2017 RenewableVolume.From Page 5C relieves waiting times at har-

vest.This additional improve-

ment allowed truckers to decide whether to deliver at the main terminal, or the annex, at their option rather than to be re-routed from one to the other.

That resulted in balanced receiving, with Azteca seeing de-liveries of about the same volume at each location, the main plant and the annex.

A bright spot for Azteca in this part of Texas has always been the abundance of producers wanting to grow corn. The plant continues to have inquiries each year dur-ing, and even after, contracting is closed.

Azteca uses 13 million bushels of corn per year. Actually, Azteca is able to acquire all its require-

ments locally, were corn is grown on about 54,000 acres contracted with local growers within a radius of approximately 40 miles from the plant.

All this, plus improvements at receiving facilities have set the stage to consolidate this year the company’s effort to contract local needs from local producers.

Azteca Milling in Plainview remains one of the largest

facilities for production of corn flour in the world. The plant

produces instant masa corn flour for snack foods, bakeries and the

well-known Maseca corn flour brand used in tortillas.

Opened in the 1990s, Azteca initially expected to contract only 50 percent of its needs locally and the rest from producers farther north, but that has changed over

the years. As production lo-cally met targets, and exceeded them in some years, progres-sively Azteca began acquiring 100 percent of its white and yellow corn needs from farms stretch-ing from Muleshoe to Floydada, and Lubbock to Dimmitt. In that time, Azteca has grown as well as expanded and diversified its products produced locally. In about 2002, Azteca acquired an additional milling facility in Dawn near Amarillo, which increased corn needs.

And as the Corn Operations Department team focuses on contracting, growing and harvest, the plant and its stable workforce of 245 to 250 employees con-tinue their day-to-day mission of milling a steady flow of premium corn flour for the world market.

Azteca contracts. From Page 2C


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See Sugarcane Aphid Page 5D

Local status check on sugarcane aphid

BLAYNE REEDAgriLife Extension IPM Specialist

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PAGE 9CPLAINVIEW HERALD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 GRAIN PREVIEW

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After being forced to sit idle for several months due to drought-related grain short-ages, White Energy’s ethanol plant east of Plainview was brought back into produc-tion in October 2013.Since then it has increased its opera-

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to expand local infra-

to increase

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White Energy boosts ethanol production


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strategic research endeavors.

states geared toward enhancing pest.”

stages

harvest

aphids in the presence of other pests

See Updates Page 5D

Sugarcane Aphids: Research and Management Updates

Texas A&M AgriLife photo


KAY KEDBETTER

warranted.”

stage.

-cals provide good control of the aphid. These prod-

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.

Sugarcane aphids have arrived in the High Plains

Bynum said AgriLife Extension entomologists have advised the threshold for the High Plains is to treat when:

– 20 percent of plants have aphids in the pre-boot stage.

– 20 percent of the plants have no more than 50 aphids in the boot

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– 30 percent infested with localized areas of heavy honeydew and

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Sugarcane aphid. From Page 8C

Updates. From Page 11C

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are not seeing aphids.

threshold level is reached,”

percent of the plants. As with all other crop pest crises, the

“Successful control of sugarcane aphids is

threshold level is reached,”

treatments is this; if we

we must make this one treatment count and last

Award. From Page 9C

.

.The Texas Wheat Producers

wheat producers in Texas.

growers a concentrated,

their crops.


Wehave a very exclusiveclub. Only the best whiteand yellow food cornhybrids on themarketare selected as membersof AztecaMilling’s

ApprovedHybrid List.Thanks go to our areacorn producers,TheWorld’s Best Growers,

who grow the outstandinghybrids in this club,helpingAztecaMillingsupply a growing

international demand forfood corn products.For grower info.call:

John BickelChristinaRodriquezor Guillermo Ibarra

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Growers, ¡Muchas Gracias!You have earned ourthanks for growing

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AIB, Kosher and SQF7.1 Certified

• AZTECA’s goal is to purchase more than 10 million bushels of white and

yellow corn from area producers.

• We are the LARGEST and MOST EXPERIENCED producer of masa

flour in the United States.

• As the INDUSTRY LEADER, we are committed to supplying the highest

quality products and delivering superior customer service.

grain preview 2016

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