By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

JOHNSTON, Iowa — For the first time in 13 years, state farmers favored a referendum to increase the Iowa Corn checkoff by 0.25 cent per bushel, to 0.75 cent, to help fund such programs as food and biofuel, which will become effective Sept. 1, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey recently announced.

“(We) needed additional funds to address the food and fuel issue specifically, as well as for livestock issues, ethanol support and research/business development for the future,” said Don Mason, Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) grower services director who organized the referendum.

“There is not a specific fund that the money will be going to. It will go to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board for the areas/issues above, as the checkoff has always been about research, education and market development for corn growers in Iowa.”

In May, the ICPB board of directors voted to ask Northey to hold a checkoff referendum after the board conducted a survey with Iowa Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) members to gauge their support for a checkoff increase.

“Many stated the food and fuel debate, and the need to counter misinformation in the media, as to why they supported the increase,” Mason said. “Our grower service representatives heard the same message from farmers across the state.”

Any Iowa growers who raised and marketed at least 250 bushels of corn during 2006-07 were eligible to vote at any county extension office in the crop reporting district where they live and were also allowed to vote absentee, ICGA officials said.

Last increased in 1995, the current corn checkoff is 0.5 cent per bushel marketed. For an average Iowa yield of 170 bushels per acre, Mason said it translates to a checkoff contribution of 85 cents per acre of corn. The checkoff is collected on corn that enters commercial channels but not on grain used on-farm; producers are able to request a refund of their checkoff contribution and that wouldn’t be affected by the vote, Mason added.

According to results submitted from nearly all counties and most absentee ballots counted, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) said approximately 73 percent of those who voted supported the increase, with only 27 percent opposed.
In accordance with Iowa Code, the IDALS only holds and counts the votes, and doesn’t discuss the reasons why farmers are voting for an increase, said Dustin Vande Hoef, IDALS communications director.

“The most recent preliminary results show 643 yea votes, 232 nay votes and 3 abstentions,” he said of the voting results gathered on July 8. “We have 30 days to officially certify the vote and are waiting to make sure there aren’t any more absentee ballots being mailed in from out of state.”

Mason said the checkoff was increased in 1995 to meet new programming needs and to replace budget capacity that had “eroded through inflation.

“By using the additional funds collected with that increase, Iowa Corn was able to expand market development efforts and stepped up corn-related research,” he said.

“The checkoff has not changed since 1995, but growing corn and agriculture in general has changed a lot. In 1995, ethanol was not where it is today and it is because of the checkoff and corn grower support that it has grown to where it is today.”

Among the specific programs cited for funding needs in the recent increase, Mason said there will be additional media and communications needs to step up its education efforts, as well as improving information to consumers about food and fuel.

“We have started a small campaign, ‘Kernels of Truth,’ about corn in your food prices, and that program will be expanded and enhanced,” he said. “We are aware of what volatility in the marketplace has done to our livestock producers. We plan to put additional resources in helping support our top market.”

Mason said ethanol also needs to be expanded as a fuel choice in Iowa through higher blends.

“Iowa Corn is very supportive of giving consumers more ethanol choices and we can’t stop looking down the road to our ‘next ethanol,’” he said. “We are going to continue to do what we do best – grow corn – and we need to consider how we will use additional bushels in the future.”

Established in 1977 by producer referendum, Iowa Corn checkoff dollars are invested by ICPB members for research, education, promotion and market development.