In the ongoing ethanol discussion, one viewpoint that has had little voice in the issue is that of the farmers who produce the corn in the first place.

Their day-to-day business will be impacted by an ethanol refinery in the local community.

Bob Bishop, vice president of the Kosciusko Farm Bureau; Tom Smith, president of the Kosciusko Farm Bureau; and Kip Tom, of Tom Farms, decided to talk about the issue.

Smith lives in Etna Green, while both Bishop and Tom live in the Leesburg/Milford area.ÊTom has been active in FFA on the local, state and national levels, and has served on the Indiana Economic Development Corp.'s Board of Directors representing agriculture.

One of the first things they said is the actual nature of the proposed site for Milford.

"This is a dry-milling process, rather than a wet-milling process," said Bishop.Ê"It produces a very small amount of odors.ÊWith the dry-milling process, you won't have anything like the plant in South Bend has emitted for years.Ê The ethanol industry has made big progress and I think it's an economic advantage to have a company as big as VeraSun in our area.Ê They are the second largest producer in the country."

The issue of "food or fuel" was a concern to all three men, but according to Tom, it's an issue that will almost become moot in time.Ê

"Corn hybrids are changing fast and getting higher yields," he said.Ê"This will help meet the needs of both food usage and industrial usage.Ê There are hybrids that have higher extractable starch.ÊThis takes the ethanol yield on a per-bushel basis to a higher level."

A bushel of high fermentable starch corn is likely to yield 3 to 5 percent more ethanol than a bushel of conventional corn.ÊThis is significant when considering that back in the 1970s, a yield of 2.2 gallons of ethanol was produced per 56-pound bushel of corn.ÊNow that figure is about 2.8 gallons.ÊThe expectation is that with newer technology, the ethanol industry could increase this yield to 3.2 gallons per bushel within five years.

The amount of acreage used for corn production currently is around 79 million acres.Ê Beginning in 2007, it's projected that 84-86 million acres of corn could be planted.Ê For every additional 1 million harvested acres, roughly 150 million bushels of corn will be added to the total supply, assuming a conservative average yield of 150 bushels per acre.Ê This means 1 million harvested acres translates into an additional 420 million gallons of ethanol.

"You will start to see a shift in acreage," said Tom.Ê"In the South, there will be a shift from cotton (and tobacco) to corn.ÊProducers will adapt to the free market.ÊThey will produce crops that are in demand, and will not produce crops that will not make them as much money."

"The genetics and the corn hybrids with the last five years have helped the yield trend up," said Bishop.Ê"You're going to increase production by increasing yield."

A gene known as a the drought gene has been developed. This enables corn to be grown in areas that were once inhospitable to it.ÊThisÊ genetic hybrid is expected to become more prevalent in the next three to five years.Ê Overall, the U.S. can produce 11 billion bushels of corn now.ÊWith hybrids and more planted acreage, 15 billion bushels could become a reality within a few years.

Another misconception the three men want to see addressed is what is known as the energy balance.

"There are studies that have said ethanol is energy negative," said Tom.Ê"That means it costs more to produce than it provides.ÊThe Department of Energy makes this statement: 'It takes less than 35,000 BTUs of energy to turn corn into ethanol, while the ethanol offers at least 77,000 BTUs of energy.ÊEthanol's energy balance is clearly positive.' Now, that's to take the raw corn.ÊIt doesn't include all the other processes it takes to produce the corn itself.Ê For every one unit of energy it takes to produce, it yield 1.35 units of energy out.ÊThat's with today's technology, that's with today's hybrids.

"What we're trying to say is that we believe the free market should be allowed to work this situation.ÊSupply and demand will produce the supply.ÊWe're going to make sure there's enough corn."

Ethanol's impact on the price of gasoline is such that it receives an incentive in the form of a partial exemption from the federal excise tax on gasoline.ÊThis 5.1-cent partial exemption is passed directly on to the consumer, unlike other subsidies, and allows for a lower cost at the pump.ÊThis ethanol incentive is nearly 10 times less than what the petroleum industry receives to protect, explore for and transport oil from across the world.

"Our costs have gone up, too," said Tom in regard to production of corn.Ê"I hear about livestock producers who see the high price of corn, and say it increases their costs of rations and their cost of producing.ÊIn the past, they've had an artificially low price because of farm program subsidies, supporting farmers. Today, we're reducing those subsidies substantially by having higher prices.ÊSo now we don't get loan deficiency payments, which is good.Ê We don't want to be subsidized.ÊWe'd rather let the market give us what we need."

The proposed Milford plant is, according to Bishop, "... significant for Elkhart County farmers as well.ÊSelling their corn locally will reduce their cost, and will enable them to put more money into local economies."

It was mentioned the proposed site for the refinery, on the north part of Milford, should have no more impact than the industry that is already there.ÊThis includes a mill, an LP tank farm/pipeline, various manufacturing concerns and a rail line.

This industry also brought up the question of water usage, since these businesses already tap into the water supply and are heavy users.Ê Along with agriculture irrigation, there has been no substantial harm to the existing water supply.

"No doubt, there will also be more truck traffic," said Bishop.Ê"That's another issue as well.Ê However, a lot of corn used will come by rail, and probably won't even be from Kosciusko County."

"It's not even sure if the routes have been determined yet," said Smith.

"The bigger issue is land-use planning," said Tom.Ê"For years, we've had weak land use planning in many areas of the Midwest.ÊThis allows for houses to pop up anywhere out in the country.ÊWhen that happens, you have these kind of conflicts.ÊIt comes to this - do you want food grown here anymore, or just houses in the countryside?"

Bishop has been in touch with VeraSun officials, and has been assured by them that the company is planning on meeting with local residents.ÊThis is all contingent upon site assessmentÊby American Milling before any public relations thrust can be made.ÊEven thoughÊthe doors to the project have been opened, Bishop was quick to point out that the company has an option on the site, and it's only an option at this time.Ê"An option doesn't mean you'll actually acquire the land," he said.

"I think the biggest thing that we're trying to get across is we want this to be good for the community," said Tom.Ê"We're going to be part of that community.ÊWe've all got to work together with this, and it's about having a renewable fuel source, protecting our energy supply in the U.S., propping up our economy locally, regionally and nationally, and supporting local businesses.ÊWe're going to work together to make this happen. It comes down to understanding the facts and how things will change, and this is change.ÊThere's no question about it.ÊWe want to make ends meet like everyone else ... and the farmers will produce the corn that's needed." [[In-content Ad]]