Check-in on the Checkoff: A Time for Reflection

By: Ralph Lents

Ralph Lents is a farmer from Menlo, Iowa, and currently serves as the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) President and on the Industrial Usage & U.S. Production Committee.

There’s nothing like the start of a new year to get you excited for everything that lies ahead. With a new year comes new opportunities for progress, new motivations for change and new goals for what the future holds. As we embrace this new year, it is also important to take a moment to reflect on the past year to recognize and appreciate everything we’ve accomplished along the way.

If I had to think of one word to describe 2024, it would be collaboration. In the past year we have partnered with fuel retailers across the state to promote higher blends of ethanol. We established strong relationships with companies like Radicle Growth to host the Radicle Corn Value Chain Challenge, leading to the discovery of 132 companies with the potential to develop new applications for corn. Additionally, we organized trade missions that sent Iowa farmers to countries like Japan and India, opening doors to potential new markets.

These collaborations wouldn’t have been possible without funding from the Iowa Corn Checkoff, and as a corn farmer and checkoff contributor, I understand just how important it is that checkoff dollars be invested in initiatives that increase grower ROI. We all play an important role in the continued success of the checkoff. It takes all of us working together to see real progress year after year.

As the Iowa Corn Promotion Board President, it is my responsibility is to ensure that our board of directors and committee members are wisely investing checkoff dollars in the best programs and projects for market development, education and research. I am incredibly proud of everything we accomplished in 2024, but I know we still have work to do.

As we look to 2025, it is my goal to continue finding new ways we can utilize the Iowa Corn Checkoff to support corn grower profitability. Every day we are striving to facilitate new partnerships, generate new farmer and consumer education programs, and search for new markets for Iowa’s number one crop. It is going to be a great year, and I cannot wait to see everything we accomplish together in 2025.

Thank you,

Ralph Lents

Iowa Corn Promotion Board President