by
Morris Mills
Bill Henderson

Montgomery County has a proud history of excellence in agriculture and the prospects looks good for farming when you consider the implications of home-grown energy on our economy.

U.S. corn yields have gone from 6.64 billion bushels in 1980 to an estimated 13.30 billion in 2010. That represents a doubling in production over those 30 years with a 10 percent reduction in aggregate nutrient or fertilizer usage. That’s a major jump in efficiency considering that total acres in production have not changed much over the same time period.

We still farm roughly the same amount of acres in Montgomery County as we did some 100 years ago. What’s different is crop production has become a sophisticated business complete with the latest technologies and an efficiency record that any industry would be proud of.

According to the USDA, corn yields in 1927 averaged some 26.4 bushels per acre. Last year, that number reached an impressive 164.7 bushels per acre. Numbers matter and grain production efficiency is critical to the economic health of our community. Especially since corn and soybean farming account for about 90 percent of the land use in the county.

Local farmers are currently seeing a 10-cent per-bushel premium compared to areas that don’t have an ethanol plant adding significant value to farm sales and boosting the local economy.

Critics cite that ethanol is subsidized by the federal government, which is a valid point. However, wind and solar energy generation projects are also subsidized and incentives are going to be necessary to support private investment.

The Indiana Corn Growers Association’s (www.incorn.org) position is that we can produce a sufficient amount of corn to provide a much larger percentage of ethanol to the country than we do now. Based on our past performance in yields, that would be hard to dispute and forecasts for corn yields are as high as 300 bushels per acre by 2030.

Approximately 36 percent of field corn production is used for animal feed, 30 percent goes to produce ethanol, 14 percent to export and 11 percent to surplus. The other uses are varied to include food and industrial at around 9 percent.

The Indiana Corn Growers Marketing Council maintains that ethanol is actually energy-positive, delivering more energy that it requires producing it. That’s backed up by a report from the EPA that found that about 1.67 more units of energy are being derived from the use of ethanol than it takes to produce it.

There are currently 12 ethanol production plants in Indiana with the Valero Renewables plant in Linden being one of the largest. They employ approximately 60 full-time skilled personnel with high-tech jobs processing 45 million bushels of corn into 120 million gallons of ethanol and 350,000 tons of distillers grains livestock feed each year.

Smart energy initiatives are a priority for Montgomery County and our MidWest Indiana regional economic development partners. Ethanol production creates jobs, tax revenue and a significant economic impact to our community and region.

We encourage you to go to the Web site mentioned above or www.growthenergy.org and take another look for yourself at how ethanol and corn power are fueling the local economy.

Morris Mills is a former Indiana State Senator and President of MCED.
Bill Henderson is the Executive Director of MCED.

Contact:  765-362-6851
www.MCEDinc.com