The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has announced the fifth iteration of its Consider Corn Challenge, a competition aimed at developing new uses for field corn with quantifiable market demand. The contest, which offers a total prize pool of $300,000, represents a $50,000 increase from previous years.
Chad Epler, NCGA Research & New Uses Chair and Kansas farmer, emphasized the importance of biobased products, stating, "NCGA is investing in these biobased solutions and positioning corn as the feedstock of choice."
Previous winners have achieved significant milestones, including scaling up development, securing additional funding, and entering joint agreements. Notably, Låkril Technologies, a past winner, developed a cost-effective method for producing acrylic acid and acrylates from renewable feedstocks like corn.
Chris Nicholas, co-founder and president of Låkril Technologies, credited the challenge with providing visibility and valuable industry connections.
The potential impact of the contest is substantial, with NCGA estimating that full commercialization of all 19 previous winners' products could create demand for approximately 3.4 billion bushels of corn.
The submission deadline for Consider Corn Challenge V is June 30 at 5 p.m. CT. Winners will be announced at the Bio Innovations Midwest event in Omaha, Nebraska, on September 15-16.
