By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 8, 2019, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) announced the winners of the Consider Corn Challenge II, a challenge intended to highlight the range of biobased materials that can be produced with field corn feedstock. The three winners included: ExoPolymer, Inc. for a plan to create a new profile of customizable, polysaccharide-based hydrocolloids that are domestically produced by microbial fermentation using corn sugar as a feedstock. These new hydrocolloids...
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June 23, 2017
NCGA Launches The “Consider Corn Challenge”
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On June 7, 2017, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), along with innovation facilitator NineSigma, announced the launch of a global competition to identify new and innovative uses for corn as a renewable feedstock for making sustainable chemicals with significant market demand. The Consider Corn Challenge is intended to be a starting point to help industry realize the full potential of corn by inspiring new concepts, approaches, and technologies...
The Bioeconomy Coalition of Minnesota is advocating strongly for two bills in the state that if passed would result in a two-year, $5 million production incentive for producers, and a capital loan equipment program. The bills, HF 536 and SF 517, would benefit companies that develop biochemicals, advanced biofuels, and anaerobic digestion projects. There is concern, however, that the legislation would increase the production of corn rather than encourage the production of crops that do...