By Carrie Napoleon, Post-Tribune correspondent
A statewide corn check-off program expected to begin July 1 will fund efforts to increase uses for the state's biggest crop and temporarily reduce sales taxes on E-85, the ethanol fuel alternative.
Senate Bill 250, which creates the voluntary check-off program, was approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in late April and is awaiting Gov. Mitch Daniels' signature.
If the measure is signed by the governor, farmers will begin automatically paying one-half cent for every bushel sold into a fund to promote education, research and promotional activities, according to Lew Middleton, director of public relations for Indiana Farm Bureau in Indianapolis.
A previous voluntary check-off that was not automatic failed to raise enough funds to be effective. Middleton said the effort only raised between $40,000 and $50,000 a year.
The measure is expected to raise about $3 million annually. Farmers who do not wish to participate can request a full refund up to six months after the funds were collected.
Chris Novak, executive director of the state's corn and soybean organizations, said the idea is to generate new and additional demand for the state's corn crops and help farmers become more efficient in their efforts to produce it.
He expects to see funds from the corn check-off used to educate people about E-85 and its by-product DDG, distillers dried grain, which can be used as animal feed.
The funds will also up a sales tax incentive on the fuel from 10 cents per gallon to 25 cents per gallon to help lower the prices at the pump and get more people to use the gasoline alternative.
Valparaiso farmer Tim Stoner said he understands the need to promote a product.
He said it is important to keep the customer base for corn diverse and not funnel all of the resources into ethanol alone.
Efforts have already been made in the corn industry to create demand in foreign markets.
He fears other countries would be more than happy to step in a fill the gap if the U.S. stops meeting their grain needs.
Right now demand for corn is high because of increased usage in the ethanol industry, but like any commodity, he said, that will eventually change. "What goes up must come down. The best cure for high prices is high prices," Stoner said.